Savior of Light
by warbleretteinwonderland
Summary: Kurt Hummel, an ordinary boy from Ohio, is given the opportunity of a lifetime when he is chosen to star opposite Blaine Anderson, a famous teenage actor in an up and coming Hollywood blockbuster. AU
1. Chapter 1

'_We now return to tonight's feature film, Love in a Light-year!'_

'- _and it's always been you that I've loved, Michelle. When they took me on that ship, they addled my memory! I couldn't remember anything about my past life… but when I broke away from them; when I found my way back to our shuttle… Michelle, all I needed was to see your face to remember where I truly belonged.'_

'_It's too late, Jordan. I've had my heart broken by you too many times. I'm going with Lieutenant Stanford. He's always known how to treat me. We're going back to his home planet. I'm sorry.'_

'_Michelle – no! Let me explain. Please! I travelled this far to find you. I've searched all the corners of the galaxy just to see you again. Your eyes… all the billions of stars cannot be compared to how beautiful your eyes are. You are the love of my life. If you leave… I'll… I'll throw myself out of the shuttle! Without my helmet! I can't live without you!'_

'_Jordan – no!'_

Kurt Hummel glared at the television screen, eating his popcorn with perhaps a little too much force.

'Hate. Her.' he shot around a mouthful of popcorn, reaching for the remote to switch the channel. Mercedes Jones laughed and slapped the remote out of his hands.

'Leave it,' she ordered, 'it's a good movie. You just hate her because she gets to kiss Blaine.'

'Well, the only person who should get to kiss Blaine Anderson is me.' Kurt declared, reaching for the remote again. When Mercedes shot him a glare, he dropped it and settled back against the pillows, crossing his arms over his chest.

'She can't even act,' he complained, 'look at her. She's only in movies because she's attractive.'

'Well, they've got pretty good chemistry, you've got to admit,' Mercedes shrugged, balling up yet another tissue and tossing it on the pile next to her. She'd been tearing up at certain parts of the movie and had almost gone through the whole box. Kurt on the other hand, who was normally a sucker for sad romance flicks, even ones as cheesy as the one on TV, had done nothing but make snarky remarks about the lead female actress on the screen. Her name was Samantha Yates, and was your typical hourglass figure, busty blonde. She wasn't very talented, but she was easy on the eyes and it was that fact that earned her a lot of roles in major Hollywood films. The lead male actor, however, was bursting at the seams with talent – not to mention he was what could only be described as Kurt's dream man.

The couple on screen had somehow reconciled in the past few minutes and were now sharing a lengthy, passionate on-screen kiss. The ending was cliché and a little too cheesy, but Kurt couldn't help but think of what it would be like to be in Samantha's shoes for just that one scene.

'That was really good,' Mercedes commented, blowing her nose into a tissue, 'sad, but good.'

'It was only good because of Blaine,' Kurt replied, a faraway look crossing his face. Mercedes chuckled at her friend's crush and flicked through the channels, not wanting to watch the credits of the film. It was a Friday night, and there was nothing interesting on, but Kurt squealed as she passed a news segment.

'Stop!' he practically shouted, 'it's Blaine!'

Mercedes rolled his eyes, 'Kurt, you do know he isn't gay.'

Kurt scoffed.

'He hasn't met me yet,' he retorted playfully, and winked at his friend before turning his attention back to the television.

'- _Anderson, who is here preparing for his new film. Can you tell us what the film is about?'_

Blaine Anderson grinned at the camera, and Kurt felt himself die a little more inside. Why couldn't Blaine be gay? And not famous? The sight of that dreamy, wide smile made his heart flutter.

'_I'm really excited about this one,' _Blaine started, and rocked on the balls of his feet, still smiling, '_it's really different from what I usually do. My character is gay and what happens is that he meets this other boy; but the boy is really, really sick and needs a transplant but because he's gay, the state won't allow him a transplant. So I try fight for his right to a new organ and in that time, they fall in love.'_

The news reporter looked slightly impressed, but also apprehensive.

'_And why Ohio of all places?' _she asked skeptically, '_aren't you afraid of the negative response you might get from the people there?'_

Again, the smile never slid from Blaine's face, _'I grew up in Westerville, so I thought it would be a good place to get back to my roots, see my family, you know? And also film here, because I know that homosexuality isn't exactly widely accepted here in Ohio. I'd like to change that.'_

'_And why's that?'_

'_Because,'_ Blaine looked directly into the camera with stunning hazel-honey eyes and Kurt felt a tug in his chest, '_although I myself am not gay, there are people that are. And I believe that just because you love someone of the same sex, doesn't mean you can be treated any less than people who are straight. It's important to me – I had gay friends in high school that were treated really badly and I just hope that my movie helps some people understand that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay. That it's normal.'_

The reported gave a nervous laugh and smiled widely at the camera, though it looked forced.

'_What sweet words from Hollywood's favorite heartthrob. Thank you for your time, Blaine.'_

'_It was my pleasure,' Blaine winked at her, and the reporter, though a few years older than him, seemed to lose her train of thought momentarily._

'_And to all you Hollywood hopefuls out there,' _she grinned after a moment, _'remember that auditions to star opposite Blaine Anderson will be held next Saturday at –' _

She turned to Blaine who again gave the camera a heartwarming smile, '_Dalton Academy – my old school. The Dean has very kindly agreed to hold the auditions in the choir room. They'll be held all day, starting at nine in the morning. And I'll be sitting in on them! I'll have a say who gets the lead role!'_

'_So if you're a teenage boy, aged sixteen to nineteen, who can act and preferably have some vocal experience, please come along and try out! You never know, it could be the best thing you could ever do!'_

The segment ended and a silence fell over Mercedes' room. Kurt stared dumbly at the television screen.

Auditions.

Auditions to star in a film with Blaine Anderson.

As Blaine Anderson's gay _love interest._

But he couldn't. There would be hundreds of more attractive, more talented boys at the auditions and he would have no chance whatsoever. So he pushed the thought from his mind with an aching heart and reached for the remote to switch the channel. His wrist was caught by Mercedes' hand, who was staring hard at him.

'You're going to those auditions, you know.' she told him, sounding stern, 'next weekend you and I are going to those auditions and you are going to get that part.'

'What? Oh, no, Mercedes,' Kurt laughed nervously, 'I couldn't. There's going to be so many other boys auditioning and –'

'And none of them will be half as good as you.' Mercedes snapped, 'Kurt, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You have to go.'

'I don't know, Mercedes,' Kurt frowned, 'I don't want to embarrass myself in front of Blaine.'

'You won't embarrass yourself.' Mercedes assured him, 'Kurt, you are the most fabulous, talented boy in all of Ohio.'

'I can guarantee there will be boys from other states coming as well.'

'And you'll be better than them! Kurt, come on. What would Rachel say?'

Just as Kurt opened his mouth to reply, his phone rang loudly. Rachel Berry's name was flashing on the screen – it was as though she had cameras watching them and knew exactly when to call.

He pressed accept and put the phone on speaker.

'_You're going to that audition next week!' _was all their friend shouted before the dial tone was heard. Kurt groaned loudly – he wanted to audition; of course he did. But there was absolutely no way he would get the role.

'Kurt, you _have _to go. Come _on.'_ Mercedes pleaded, 'if anything, you get to meet Blaine in person. You'll get to _meet Blaine._ You can sing in front of him and if that doesn't blow him away, god knows what will. And if you get the role…'

'What if I get the role?' Kurt asked, folding his arms over his chest and feeling quite annoyed at Mercedes' persistence. She grinned at him.

'You're going to be playing his _love interest_. You're going to get to kiss Blaine.'

Kurt's expression fell blank. He didn't really consider that part.

'But… you know those kissing scenes,' Mercedes continued, 'they have to film those _over _and _over _and _over _to get them just right. But you're right, someone else will probably get the role and you'll get to watch them do it in a few months when the movie comes out…'

Kurt didn't really want to watch Blaine kiss another boy – not if he had the chance to do it first. He bit his lip and folded his arms across his chest, and Mercedes could practically see the gears in his head turning.

'And we don't even know what that entitles. I mean, it could be more than a kiss. You might have to make out with him… and from what I've heard, those scenes take _hours _to film.'

Kurt felt his heart thud uncomfortably in his chest and he was suddenly flooded with images of the possibilities. Even talking to Blaine would be amazing.

'But you probably don't want to do that. I mean, come on,' Mercedes scoffed, 'it's only Blaine Anderson. Let someone else have the role.'

There was a small silence and Mercedes knew that she had won. A second later, Kurt looked up at her, a determined expression on his face.

'No.' he told her flatly.

'No?' she repeated, faintly amused.

'No. I'm not letting anyone else have that role.' Kurt shook his head defiantly, 'I am quite possibly his biggest fan and _no one is having that role but me._'

Mercedes grinned at him, 'that's the Kurt that I know and love! So you're going to audition?'

'Damn straight I'm going to audition!' Kurt replied, the tone of his voice rising with a combination of nerves, excitement and resoluteness, 'and I'm going to get the part and I'm going to kiss Blaine and it's going to be amazing.'

Mercedes reached over the forgotten popcorn bowls and discarded tissues and hugged him tightly.

'Of course you are,' she agreed fondly, 'and I can't wait to see you shine on the big screen.'

* * *

**AN: I am back, and with a new story at that! Believe it or not but this idea actually came to me in the form of a dream so I know exactly how it should work out. I wanna thank you guys for all the love and support I've been receiving on my other stories; your response to them is, as always, phenomenal and I adore all of you! You guys and your beautiful reviews are the reason I want to keep writing. :)**

**Please review and tell me what you think!  
**

**Oh and **Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the ideas. Everything else belongs to the wonderful world of Glee and the genius brains that create it.**


	2. Chapter 2

'I can't believe I'm going to do it.'

The week had both flown and dragged on for Kurt, who seemed to be able to think of nothing but the audition all week. He would spend every spare moment practicing in the choir room, contemplating song choices and outfits in his head. He swore Mercedes and Rachel to secrecy about the audition – he didn't want it going around, especially if he didn't end up getting the part. He didn't think he'd be about to handle the humility.

But it was Friday night, and he, Mercedes and Rachel were having a sleepover at his house, wearing cucumber face masks and watching old musicals. Rachel kept chattering excitedly about the audition; she seemed to be more excited than Kurt was, who at that moment in time felt as though he would throw up at any given moment.

'You'll be wonderful, Kurt. I'm so glad you guys asked me to come along,' she gushed, clapping her hands together in excitement, 'I mean, I would have come along anyway but it was so nice of you to extend the invitation to me.'

'I wouldn't know what to do without you there.' Kurt replied honestly. He knew that Rachel's bold personality would be able to calm his nerves; she had spent much of the night reassuring him of his apparently endless talent and how he was a shoe-in to get the role. Kurt didn't have that much faith in himself, but it was nice to be surrounded by people who believed he could beat all the other boys for the role.

'I'm just so nervous,' he groaned, 'I mean, I don't know how talented the other boys are going to be. What if I get there and the audition is a total flop?'

Rachel scoffed, 'don't be ridiculous, Kurt. There's not a boy in Ohio with a range like yours.'

'But what if my range isn't what they want?' Kurt asked softly, 'I'm already ridiculed enough for my voice as it is.'

'They're just jealous that they don't have your talent, Kurt,' Mercedes reassured him, smiling warmly at him, 'you're the best male singer I know.'

'You're also probably a perfect candidate for the role.' Rachel replied musingly after a moment, and Kurt turned to her.

'What do you mean?'

'Well,' she began, 'and I don't mean this in a bad way – but you do fit the stereotype. Your voice, your fashion sense, your attitude – you are all that a good gay boy should be, and Ohio doesn't have many – or any – boys like you. If they're making a film about gay teenagers, they'd want someone who looked believable on screen.'

Kurt was unsure whether she was insulting or complimenting him, but he smiled at her weakly nonetheless. If anything, he would get to meet his favourite celebrity and if he didn't get the role, he would have known he tried rather than regretted not going.

'I hope it turns out okay,' he sighed, moving up and into the bathroom to wash the mask off his face. His expression was a mixture of nerves and defiance – if anything at all, he would give the audition his absolute best.

* * *

'Look at all the people here, I didn't think there'd be so many!' Rachel hissed, casting a look around the large corridor. It was packed, and the line extended all the way to the front of the school.

Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes had arrived at Westerville at seven in the morning, expecting to be one of the first to arrive. But apparently literally hundreds of boys had the same idea, and there was a huge bustle to be first in line. Kurt made to move to the front, but Rachel had held him back.

'Never go first,' she advised, 'you'll be the hardest to remember.'

He nodded, considering her words carefully, and let a large number of people ahead of him before settling near the end of the group. Now all around him people were practicing scales and lines, and the more he watched him, the more anxious he was getting. He could see some obvious talent around him, and he didn't even have the guts to practice singing anything around the boys around him.

'How about we do some scales?' Rachel suggested, 'you want your voice to be ready and limber.'

She started singing, attracting some looks of admiration from the boys around her. Kurt shook his head resolutely.

'I don't want to practice here,' he told her in a low voice, 'they're going to be staring at me.'

'Of course they'll be staring at you,' Rachel laughed disbelievingly, 'that's what you want. To intimidate them.'

'I won't be intimidating anyone,' Kurt retorted, looking around the hall again, 'listen to some of these guys – they're so _talented._'

'_Please_, Kurt,' Mercedes sighed, 'they all sound the same. You're unique.'

'Own it.' Rachel added, giving him a quick hug.

Kurt sighed and stood up from where they had been sitting against the wall.

'Where are you going?' Rachel asked, sounding slightly worried.

'Just… for a walk. I'll be back soon,' Kurt promised, 'I just feel a little flustered.'

Rachel looked as though she was about to protest but Mercedes placed her hand on her shoulder and she shut her mouth and simply nodded. Kurt took a deep breath and started heading in the opposite direction, turning down a deserted corridor. It was still before nine and he had plenty of time to collect his thoughts and practice his singing before it would be his turn to audition.

He walked down the corridors aimlessly, belting out some scales easily. He liked the way his voice reverberated from the beautiful walls, which were covered in murals and ancient looking paintings. He came to a beautifully carved door and pushed it open, smiling at what he found inside.

There was a large window looking over the grounds – the sun was streaming through the glass, playing on the marble floor. There was a piano to one side and a number of couches on the other. Kurt grinned and pushed the door open further, stepping inside.

He went straight to the piano and slid on the bench, letting his fingers dance across the keys in a simple, easy melody. He felt his tension begin to seep away as the music filled the room, and after a few minutes of carefree playing, he hit a key and began to sing.

'_Something has_ …'

He frowned and hit the key next to it, so that a higher note pierced the air. He tried again.

'_Something has changed within me…'_

He couldn't seem to hit the notes right; his voice was too frail and shaky and he put it down to nerves. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

'Come on, Kurt,' he whispered to himself, 'you know this song inside out. You can do this.'

He hit the key again.

'_Something has changed within me, something is not the same.'_

He smiled to himself, finally seeming to get it right.

'_I'm through with playing by –'_

'_The rules of someone else's game.'_

His eyes flew open at the sound of the new voice that had filled the room. It was male, but somehow slightly familiar. It seemed a little too deep for Defying Gravity, but somehow whoever was singing it made it work in their favour. When Kurt's eyes landed on the door, he almost fell off the piano bench in shock.

Blaine Anderson himself was smiling at him from the doorway, leaning against the frame. Kurt resisted the urge to pinch himself and merely stared at him, unable to form a single word.

It was Blaine Anderson. In the flesh. Kurt didn't know whether to scream or cry.

If he looked good on television, it was nothing compared to how he looked in person. He was dressed casually, wearing jeans and a dark sweater. His hair wasn't styled – as it was in most of his films and premieres – and curled around his ears and forehead. He looked so normal, just like any other boy, and Kurt then realized he was staring and he tore his eyes away from the beautiful boy and settled his gaze somewhere above Blaine's head.

'Defying Gravity, right? From Wicked?' Blaine asked lightly, stepping into the room. When Kurt nodded dumbly, he continued, 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything.'

'No, no. Y-you're not interrupting.' Kurt assured him, suddenly finding his voice. Blaine's smile widened and he stepped further into the room.

'Are you here to audition?' he asked, sounding genuinely interested. Kurt nodded once again, quite distracted by his smile. Blaine reached the piano and began drumming his fingers on the top of it.

'You're very good.' he told Kurt, whose eyes widened, 'I've never heard a boy sing like you before.'

'I – uh…' Kurt stammered, feeling his cheeks go red, 'um. Thank you.'

'You're quite welcome.' Blaine grinned, 'I look forward to see- oh. Excuse me.'

Blaine's phone had vibrated in his pocket and he stared down at the screen for a moment before his eyes snapped back to Kurt.

'I'm so sorry,' he apologized, 'but the auditions are about to start! It was nice meeting you!'

He turned to leave and as he reached the door he stopped and turned, shooting Kurt a dazzling smile.

'I can't wait to hear you sing the rest of that song.' he told him, and Kurt felt something pull at his heart longingly. They locked eyes for a moment, Blaine still smiling happily, before he left and shut the door quietly behind him. Kurt exhaled heavily, his heart hammering in his chest.

'Did that really just happen?' he breathed, fingers tapping nervously against his leg. He pulled out his phone to check the time, still feeling a little flustered, and realized that it was almost nine o'clock. He sighed again and got off the piano bench, opting to head back to the girls to tell them about what had just happened. He figured that he was ready as he would ever be – which served a problem, seeing as he could barely string two words together in front of Blaine.

How was he meant to get through the whole audition?

* * *

'You'll never guess who we saw, Kurt,' Rachel beamed when Kurt reached them. He still felt a little stunned by the whole bizarre encounter, but he had an idea who Rachel was talking about.

'You'll never guess who I just sort of sang with,' Kurt countered, sitting down next to the two girls, 'and then had a very one-sided conversation with.'

'You sang with Blaine?' Mercedes asked, sounding both excited and a little jealous, 'how did that even happen!'

'He walked in on me practicing Defying Gravity,' he explained, 'and he finished the line for me. So I guess it doesn't really count. Then he started talking and he said I had a really nice voice and then he had to go because the auditions were starting and oh my god, I just met Blaine Anderson.'

The reality of the situation hit him and a wide grin stretched across his face. Blaine Anderson had said he was good – that meant he had to have some sort of talent, right?

'He said you had a nice voice?' Rachel repeated, 'oh, you are _so _a shoe in, Kurt.'

'No.' Kurt shook his head, 'I don't want to think that way. If I get too cocky, I won't do my best. Besides, I couldn't even talk to him. I don't know how I'm meant to audition.'

'What if I go in with you?' Rachel asked offhandedly, 'I mean, I've seen people go inside the audition room in pairs; I'm sure we could do it too.'

Kurt looked over to Mercedes, who shrugged.

'I don't mind staying out here,' she assured him, 'if you haven't noticed, a lot of boys packing in one place means a lot of potential eye candy I could be scoping.'

Kurt laughed weakly, and then agreed to Rachel coming in with him. He could use the moral support – and there was no better person than Rachel Berry to get an audition running.

* * *

Kurt's turn to audition came at around four in the afternoon. After copious amounts of nerves, coffee and harmonizing, he stood in front of the doors to the choir room.

'I am so nervous,' he moaned to Rachel, who looked perfectly fine beside him, 'I am so nervous that I'm going to throw up and die. Right in front of the directors. And Blaine.'

'You'll be fine,' Rachel assured him, taking his hand and squeezing it as the doors opened from the inside, 'come on, Kurt. Show them exactly what you're made of.'

They walked into the room and saw a table, behind which sat three people – two older men, and Blaine. One of the men wore a beret on his balding head, his arms crossed on the table, looking stern. The other looked younger, perhaps in his early thirties, and had relatively long hair for a man and stubble on his chin. He looked relaxed and smiled at the two as they walked in. Blaine's eyes automatically locked on Kurt and he seemed to light up with recognition.

'Well,' he started, smiling slowly, 'if it isn't Elphaba.'

Kurt tried not to curse as a blush spread slowly across his cheeks. Blaine seemed to notice and he chuckled slightly.

'What's your name?' he asked, picking up a pen and glancing down to the sheet in front of him.

'Kurt,' Kurt replied, 'Kurt Hummel.'

'Kurt Hummel…' Blaine repeated softly as he wrote the name down, and Kurt almost shivered at the sound of his name coming from Blaine's lips, 'okay, Kurt Hummel; please take a script and read from the highlighted part.'

Kurt stepped forward and took the script that the man with the beret offered him.

'Before we start, I would like to introduce Simon Randall,' Blaine gestured to the younger man, 'and Marcus Parlay.'

Marcus, the man with the beret, didn't smile in acknowledgement. He merely sat back and waited for Kurt to begin.

Kurt's stomach was twisting with nerves and he opened his mouth to read from the script when he was interrupted.

'Actually, my name is Rachel Berry and I'll also be auditioning for the role.'

Kurt looked up from his script, his mouth dropping open. Rachel's hands were on her hips and she looked completely serious. Blaine burst out laughing.

'The lead is supposed to be a boy,' he reminded her, 'but I like your enthusiasm, Rachel.'

'No, seriously,' Rachel frowned, 'I have two gay dads so I know exactly how to portray one. Also, Barbra Streisand portrayed a male in one of her films and I believe that as she is my idol, it's my duty to follow in her footsteps. This is obviously my big break.'

'Rachel!' Kurt hissed, 'you can't audition for this!'

'I can so!' Rachel hissed back, 'you know I could get the part if I tried.'

'But we're here for _me_ so stop being so self-centred and let me get on with my audition!'

Rachel waved him off and turned back to the panel.

'I'd like to begin by performing a song I've been singing since I knew what singing was. It is, of course, a Barbra classic. I'm sure you've heard of Don't Rain on My Parade –'

'But I'm sure you'll enjoy my rendition of Defying Gravity a lot more,' Kurt told the directors, smiling sweetly before shooting Rachel a glare.

'I'll need one of those scripts too, if you don't mind,' Rachel requested, snapping her fingers and holding her hand out so that she could be given one. Simon handed one over hesitantly and Rachel flipped forward a few pages before clearing her throat.

'Rachel, I'm sorry, but you really can't audition for this.' Blaine sighed, though he was smiling, 'honestly, I think you're hilarious and I bet you're talented enough, but we really need a male to play this role.'

'And we haven't seen a capable male all day!' Marcus added loudly from next to Blaine, 'so please, _please _just let him audition so I can go home!'

Rachel glared at Marcus, but dropped the script back on the desk and folded her arms across her chest.

'I know when I'm not wanted,' she sniffed, tossing her hair over her shoulders, 'just know that one day when I win my first Tony award, you'll all regret not listening to me.'

With that, she marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her. The directors, and Blaine especially, stared after her, dumbfounded.

'Yes, she's always like that,' Kurt sighed, as though it brought him great pain to admit that fact, 'anyway… should I um, start now?'

'Whenever you're ready.' Blaine smiled, lacing his fingers together and looking at Kurt patiently.

A silence fell over the room and Kurt felt his throat close up. Now that he was actually being judged, he was terrified. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

He tried again, but the words stuck in his throat. He heard Marcus sigh loudly and he began to feel panicky.

'I – I –' he started, frowning, internally screaming at his nerves. Why couldn't he just read the stupid sheet?

'Perhaps you should come back when you have a little more experience,' Simon suggested gently, and Kurt looked up. He was looking at him sympathetically, 'we've had a lot of boys get nervous today. It's not out of the ordinary. Perhaps you just need a little more practice.'

'And perhaps you should stop wasting our time.' Marcus muttered, and Kurt's face burned with embarrassment.

'No,' Blaine spoke up, glaring at Marcus, 'don't be rude. He's not wasting our time. I heard him sing earlier, and after all the people we saw today, his voice is still fresh in my mind. He's _good_, okay? Maybe he just needs some help. Here – I'll read the lines with you. Maybe you'll feel a little more comfortable.'

Blaine smiled at Kurt reassuringly and got up from the table, taking one of the scripts as he went. He stood next to Kurt, scanning a few of the lines before looking from the script, his face turning serious.

'So, what's wrong with you… if you don't mind me asking, of course.'

Kurt took a deep breath and read the sentence and looked up at Blaine.

'I – there's something wrong with my kidneys,' Kurt replied, and was slightly impressed at how defeated he sounded, 'and – and there's nothing the doctors can do about it.'

'But… I thought there were transplants for kidneys… are you going to get a transplant?'

Kurt scoffed. It wasn't scripted, but it felt appropriate.

'A transplant,' he repeated, 'they won't give me one.'

Blaine looked confused, 'but – why?'

'Because,' Kurt smiled tensely at Blaine, 'homosexuals aren't allowed transplants, apparently.'

Blaine's mouth fell open slightly and his eyebrows furrowed.

'That's… that can't be true.' he shook his head, 'isn't that against the law? They can't just… but –'

'I don't know how it works,' Kurt sighed, 'and I don't want to know. All I know is that I'm dying and I – I can't be saved. So I don't know. All I can do is sit in this bed and wait.'

He made himself sound hurt, but defiant. As though even though he was having his right to a life taken away, he refused to be beaten. Blaine looked at him oddly for a moment, but didn't say anything. Kurt began to feel nervous – was he that bad that Blaine didn't want to continue?

'Alright,' Blaine nodded after a moment, and a small smile tugged at his lips, 'good, good. See, Marcus? A few lines and I'm sold.'

Simon nodded in agreement and even Marcus made a jerky movement with his head that was akin to a nod. Blaine smiled warmly at Kurt and went to sit back in his seat.

'So, could you sing something for us now?' Simon asked, leaning forward in his seat and looking interested. Kurt nodded.

'Defying Gravity?' Blaine asked, sounding hopeful. Kurt chanced a smile at him and nodded again and Blaine's smile grew.

'When you're ready.' Simon smiled, now leaning back in his chair. Kurt nodded and then shut his eyes.

_You can do it, Kurt. You're doing well. You're doing very well so far. Blow them away with this song and this part is yours._

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, hoping to whatever god existed that he could pull the song off.

'_Something has changed within me,_

_Something is not the same,_

_I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game._'

He saw Simon begin to smile and it fuelled him. He sung the next few lines with a new vigour.

'_Too late for second-guessing,_

_Too late to go back to sleep,_

_It's time to trust my instincts,_

_Close my eyes and leap!'_

He closed his eyes, now forgetting about the judging and simply engrossing himself in the song. He didn't remember exactly where he was until halfway through the chorus, he heard Simon let out a whoop and heard him clap a few times. Kurt snapped his eyes open to look at the three people before him; Simon was grinning broadly, even Marcus looked impressed and Blaine –

Blaine was staring at Kurt as though he'd never seen a human being before. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open. Kurt forced himself to not look into Blaine's eyes, knowing it would throw him off the song. As he drew to a close, Simon and Blaine rose to their feet and clapped enthusiastically.

'And you said he was wasting our time,' Blaine scoffed, beaming at Kurt, 'you are phenomenal, Kurt Hummel.'

Simon leaned over the table and held out his hand, shaking Kurt's eagerly.

'Thank you so much for coming down! You are the best we've seen today.' Simon told him, and Kurt's heart swelled with happiness. He couldn't believe that he'd actually nailed the audition. He couldn't believe that these big Hollywood directors were _impressed _by _him._

'Just write your phone number down on this sheet,' Blaine offered him the sheet that was in front of him and a pen, 'and your contact details and hopefully you'll be hearing some good news within the week.'

Kurt quickly scrawled down his details, barely able to hold the pen. His whole body was trembling with jittery excitement, and he signed his name at the bottom on the paper with a flourish and slid it back to Blaine, who grinned at him.

'I'll walk you to the door,' Blaine offered, standing up, 'honestly – I knew that you would be good when I heard you this morning but you are just… wow_. _I feel so talentless in your presence.'

'Don't be stupid, you're the most perfect person in the world,' Kurt replied quickly, and then blushed at his choice of words. Blaine raised an eyebrow at him, but looked amused and began to lead Kurt to the door. Kurt trailed behind him, mentally kicking himself for his lack of tact.

'It was a pleasure meeting you, Kurt Hummel,' Blaine told him, gripping the door handle, 'there is a lot of talent in you.'

'Thank you so much,' Kurt replied, unable to keep the grin off his face. Blaine looked back towards the judges before leaning in closer to whisper.

'Just so you know,' he started in a low voice, 'you're the best I've seen so far, and I'm pretty sure you're the best we'll see. If the others have anyone else in mind, I'll push them towards you straight away. You can pretty much guarantee you'll get the part, okay? Well done!'

He pushed the door open and before Kurt had a chance to even thank him, he ushered him out and shot him a quick wink before closing the door behind him. Kurt stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, unable to believe that he had just nailed the audition.

And been pretty much given the part by Blaine Anderson himself.

He walked back to Mercedes and a still brooding Rachel with a lot more confidence, casting glances around at the remaining boys waiting to audition. Some of them were standing haughtily, glaring back at Kurt, who resisted the urge to laugh in their faces.

'So, how'd it go?' Mercedes asked, sounding both excited and terrified. Kurt bit his lip and not bothering to wipe the smile off his face dropped his voice so that no one would hear them.

'Let's just say that I am pretty much guaranteed the part.' he told her proudly, and her eyes widened in excitement.

'No way!' she squealed, 'I knew it, Kurt! I knew it. How do you know, though? Did they tell you?'

'Blaine Anderson practically gave me the part himself.' he smirked, and then dropped the haughty attitude and jumped up and down on the spot, 'I don't believe this! I honestly don't believe this!'

'Okay, okay, calm down, Kurt.' Rachel advised, 'you don't know who he has said that to before you, so…'

'Shut up, Rachel,' Mercedes snapped, 'you're just mad that you weren't allowed to audition at all.'

'I still think I would have played it best.' Rachel muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, 'but congratulations, Kurt. You really deserve it. When do you know for sure?'

'Within the week.' Kurt replied, butterflies already churning in his stomach. Blaine was amazing – he was incredibly kind and sweet and so much better than he possibly could have dreamed of.

And now he was probably going to star in a movie with him.

He grabbed Rachel and Mercedes' hands and jumped up and down again, not bothering to contain his excited scream.

* * *

**Overwhelmed at the response this story is getting. New chapter will be up within twelve hours! **  
**Please let me know what you think of this! I hope you guys are enjoying it. Thank you for the support. :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

The call came on Wednesday.

Kurt had made sure that his phone was charged constantly, and it never left his side for more than five minutes. Even though Blaine had pretty much guaranteed him the role, he was feeling a little apprehensive – especially after Rachel had made the comment about Blaine guaranteeing it to everyone.

But he was sitting in English, just before lunch, and his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He'd alerted his teachers, telling him he was expecting a very important phone call in that week, and they had kindly given him permission to answer his phone during class. It was an unknown number, and Kurt's stomach flopped.

'Hello?'

His voice was shaking with nerves and excitement.

'_Hello, this is Kurt Hummel, right?'_

'Y-yes, it is. Who's speaking?'

'_This is Simon Randall, from the audition for Savior of Light. How are you today?'_

'Um, fine, thank you. How are you?'

'_I'm good. I have some news that might make your day a whole lot better, though.'_

'Oh?'

'_Yeah. Kurt, we would love to have you on board for our film. You were by far the best we'd seen out of all the boys that auditioned; you've really got something, you know? We've never come across someone so unique – and someone who owns it so well. So we are honoured to extend this opportunity to you.'_

Kurt couldn't help it – he let out an excited shriek and began to jump up and down in his seat, his eyes lighting up. Rachel, who was sitting next to him and had been observing the conversation with interest, let her mouth fall open.

Simon had started to laugh at Kurt's shriek and when Kurt had settled a little, he spoke again.

'_It's nice to know how excited you are! If you could come back to Dalton Academy on Saturday, at eleven o'clock, we would love to go over paperwork with you and introduce you to the rest of the cast! And it would help to bring a parent or guardian along to help with the legalities, but we hope to see you then.'_

'Oh, you will definitely hear me then,' Kurt replied excitedly, ignoring the strange looks his classmates were giving him, 'thank you so, so much Mr Randall, I can't tell you how grateful I am!'

'_We're just happy you ended up coming down. See you on Saturday, Kurt!'_

'Bye!'

Kurt hung up his phone and put it down on his desk before grabbing Rachel's hands and squealing with her simultaneously.

'Did you –' she started, but Kurt simply nodded enthusiastically and they both squealed loudly again. A jock behind them scoffed.

'Do you have to act like a faggot all the time?' he asked, raising an eyebrow. Kurt turned to him and opened his mouth to reply, but Rachel beat him to it.

'I wouldn't talk to him like that if I were you,' she advised, 'now that he's a big Hollywood star.'

The jock raised an eyebrow in confusion and Kurt squealed again.

'Alright, you two, settle down,' his teacher scolded lightly from the front of the classroom. Kurt and Rachel turned to her and smiled apologetically before putting their heads together and whispering excitedly.

Kurt's heart was hammering in his chest and he felt as though he could start crying from sheer joy. It seemed surreal – just the week before he was living a perfectly ordinary life, and now he was going to star in a movie opposite _Blaine Anderson. _He was the luckiest teenager in the world.

* * *

Kurt didn't know how he held in the news all day, but by the time he got to glee club that afternoon, he was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. He was the first to sit down and even then, he couldn't stop tapping his foot or sit still. He couldn't wait to tell the rest of his friends – he knew they would be equally thrilled.

'Alright, class,' Mr Schuester beamed at them as he walked into the room, 'today I think we should work on our selection list for –'

'Um, actually, Mr. Schue?' Kurt interrupted, raising his hand, 'I have an announcement to make.'

Mr Schuester looked at Kurt for a moment before gesturing to the front of the class, 'sure. The floor is yours, Kurt.'

Kurt took a deep breath and went to stand in front of the class, wringing his hands.

'Well, okay,' he started, looking up at them, 'last weekend I went to the auditions for Savior of Light, Blaine Anderson's new movie. I know a few of you were talking about the auditions last week.'

There was a general murmur throughout the group as they began to whisper about the new film and what Kurt could possibly be doing at the audition – they knew Broadway was his dream, not Hollywood. However, a few of them were smiling as though they knew what was coming next, and Rachel was grinning as though she had just won the lottery.

'Well,' Kurt continued, and a smile stretched over his lips, 'I – it went really well. And… and I got the part. I got the lead. I'm going to be in a movie!'

There was a moment of silence before the group simultaneously broke into excited cheers and shouts. Tina and Quinn rushed up to Kurt to hug him and congratulate him. Mr Schuester looked stunned, a huge grin on his face. He was clapping.

'Kurt,' he laughed, sounding elated, 'I can't believe this! This is incredible. Why didn't you tell us you were auditioning?'

'Well, I didn't think I'd get the role,' Kurt replied honestly, his arms still around Tina, 'and I didn't want to be embarrassed if I told you guys that I was auditioning.'

'We would have supported you either way, Kurt,' Mr Schuester reminded him, 'but this… this is absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of you, Kurt!'

Kurt smiled at him warmly and Mr Schuester clapped him on the shoulder. Once the excitement began to simmer down, people began to ask questions.

'So what did you have to do in the audition?' Mike asked.

'I had to read from a script,' Kurt replied, 'and oh my god, it was so embarrassing because I was so nervous I couldn't even speak and then Blaine –'

'Blaine?' Quinn interrupted, 'like, Blaine Anderson, Blaine?'

'What's he like?' Tina asked, giving Kurt a knowing glance. Before he could reply, however, Rachel jumped in.

'Horrid,' she told her, crossing her arms over her chest, 'he's a horrible person. He wouldn't even let me audition.'

'You're a _girl_, Rachel,' Kurt reminded her, sighing exasperatedly; 'it was a role for a _boy_. You can't blame him.'

'He could have at least listened to me sing.' Rachel grumbled, and Kurt rolled his eyes and turned back to Tina.

'Blaine is just… he's so, so nice. He told me that if the directors were considering someone else, he would force them to choose me.'

Quinn smirked at him and went to go sit down, 'sounds like someone has a crush.'

Kurt blushed brightly and shook his head.

'Not a chance,' he replied, 'but I'm so excited to be working with him.'

'Dude, have you spoken to Burt about this?' Finn asked suddenly, 'I don't know if he'll be cool with you going off and shooting movies, man…'

Kurt's heart fell as he remembered that he still had to talk to his father about the role. He didn't think that Burt would have a huge problem with it, but he wouldn't be entirely thrilled about it. Of course, he would be proud, but he would be scared, too. He could practically draw the conversation up in his head.

'Well… no…' Kurt replied, scratching his arm nervously, 'but he'll be fine with it. I'm sure he will be.'

'Well, Kurt, this is a fantastic opportunity nonetheless,' Mr. Schuester told him, looking slightly misty-eyed, 'and we're all very proud of you.'

'You're going to be amazing, Kurt.' Mercedes called from the back, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

He spent the rest of glee club discussing the new film with much excitement, but the thought of talking to his dad about it was making him feel very nervous indeed. He knew his father wanted what was best for him, and that he would be proud, but he would be very, very apprehensive, especially when he heard what the movie would be about.

* * *

'Dad… can I talk to you?'

Burt Hummel muted the volume on the television and sat up, giving Kurt his full attention.

'Of course, kiddo,' he replied, 'what's up?'

Kurt exhaled slowly and leaned against the wall across from his father's armchair so that they were facing each other. He chewed his lip for a moment.

'You know who Blaine Anderson is, right?' he asked.

'Vaguely. He's the kid in movies, right?'

'Yeah,' Kurt nodded, 'he stars in films. And… he has a new movie coming out.'

'Okay…' Burt nodded, looking slightly confused.

'And I… I auditioned for it.'

Burt's eyes narrowed very slightly, and he looked as though he was concentrating, 'okay…'

'And I got the lead role, dad.' Kurt told him, allowing himself to smile. Nothing felt better than being able to say those words, 'I got the part. Out of hundreds and hundreds of others.'

Burt was very silent for a moment, and Kurt didn't like the expression on his father's face. In an ideal world, his father would get up and hug him and tell him that he was thrilled, but he knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Burt shifted in his seat and exhaled.

'Kurt, I don't know if that's such a good idea.'

Kurt's heart dropped and tears sprung to his eyes automatically.

'Why not?' he asked softly, 'aren't you proud of me?'

'Of course I'm proud of you,' Burt replied, 'I'm always proud of you. I just don't know. A movie, Kurt? You're not even out of school yet.'

'But I'm graduating this year.' Kurt argued, 'I've only got a few months to go. And it's an amazing opportunity, dad!'

'What's the movie about?' Burt asked. Kurt looked at the floor.

'A sick boy who is denied a transplant because of his sexuality,' he replied, 'that's my part. And then there's another boy; they fall in love and fight for his rights.'

There was a longer pause and Kurt fiddled with the hem of his shirt, not wanting to meet his father's eyes.

'Kurt, this movie… that's a topic that isn't accepted by many people. Especially in Ohio.'

'But that's why this is so important!' Kurt insisted, 'so that we can educate people, dad!'

'I know you're bullied at school because of your sexuality, Kurt,' Burt sighed, 'I don't want you to be at risk of being abused by so many others, on a national scale.'

'But I won't be!' Kurt exclaimed, a tear rolling down his cheek, 'people need to realize that homosexuality is no different from being straight and this movie is perfect for that.'

Burt stood up from his chair.

'I think you're too young, Kurt,' he told him, 'and you're too naïve at this stage.'

'It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!' Kurt exploded, 'you can't stop me from doing this, dad! This is so important to me!'

'And what if it goes wrong?' Burt countered, 'what if you get so much hate from the public for it that I end up losing you? What about hate crimes? What about the affect it will have on you emotionally?'

'That _won't happen_!' Kurt told him, the tears flowing quicker now, 'why are you doing this? Mom would have let me do it! At least she would have been proud of me!'

Kurt's mother had been a touchy subject ever since her death when Kurt was eight. His father has raised him singlehandedly since then, and Kurt knew how hard it was for him. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them, and he clapped his hand over his mouth.

Burt looked at him for a long moment, his eyes growing brighter with what could only be tears.

'Your mother,' he told him quietly, 'told me to look after you before she died. To look over you at whatever cost, and to keep you safe from harm. I'm just doing what she asked me to do. Don't jump to conclusions about what she would have done in this situation, Kurt. '

Burt walked out of the room, leaving Kurt standing there, hating himself. He didn't mean for it to come out that way – his father had no idea how much he appreciated everything he had done for him in his life, but he was so frustrated! He also didn't understand why his father was behaving the way he was. He understood that he was concerned, but worse films had been made. It wasn't the end of the world; and it could be the start of a huge career for Kurt.

With shaking hands, he pulled out his phone and brought up the number Simon had called him on earlier.

_I can't do the movie. My dad doesn't approve of it and I have to pull out. I'm so sorry._

He dropped his phone to the floor and buried his head in his hands, letting himself cry. He knew that he shouldn't have gotten excited over it; something always had to go wrong, no matter what it was. He didn't know how long he sat there – Simon didn't text him back, which, if anything, made him feel even more miserable. They would probably find a replacement in an instant – he wasn't anything special, really. He realized that then.

_I'll just be a Lima Loser forever, then_, he thought miserably, wiping his eyes, _this was my big chance and nothing came out of it. I'm never going to make it out of here._

* * *

**Poor Kurt! Will he end up getting his role? Of course he will! Otherwise there wouldn't be a story! But how does he convince Burt? Well, he has the help of a few special people for that!**

**Next chapter will be posted within a day, I think. Maybe early tomorrow or by midday. (Australian EST) Please let me know what you think! Thank you guys so much for reading!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt didn't talk to his father for the rest of the night, nor did he talk to his friends the next day at school. They were trying to get information about the movie out of him, but he wouldn't respond or even look at them. Rachel and Mercedes were the most persistent – he hadn't told them, or anyone, about the fight he'd had with Burt and he wasn't really planning to. He just hoped everyone forgot about the role if he didn't mention it for long enough. He knew that he was being perhaps a little melodramatic; but he had every reason to be – this movie offer had to be the best thing that had ever happened to him, and now he couldn't do it, just because his father didn't think he would be able to handle it.

_He has no idea what I've had to handle since starting high school_, he thought bitterly, turning his key in the ignition and slamming the car door behind him once he had slid out of the driver's seat.

His father was home, surprisingly, and he looked up at him when Kurt walked past the kitchen to get to his room. He looked as though he was about to say something, however Kurt's stony expression stopped him. He hated doing this to Kurt, but he really just wanted what was best for his son, and he really didn't think he was ready for this. He had to think about his education – he wasn't finished with high school yet, and the stress of a movie could do so much to him, and he knew how much Kurt had to cope with already. He just hoped that Kurt would be able to understand that.

* * *

The atmosphere in the house that night was nothing short of tense as they ate dinner. There was silence – Burt had, of course, told Carole about what had happened. She secretly didn't approve of Burt's decision, but she had to respect him, because Kurt was his son. She was planning on talking to Kurt after dinner, and hopefully sorting something out, but right now, she just kept silent with the rest of them.

Kurt didn't eat much, but when he did, he stabbed at his food with angry venom. His father was sitting across from him, so he kept his eyes glued to his plate and didn't dare look up for fear of screaming at him or crying. Eventually though, he grew sick of the tension and stood up.

'Thanks.' he shot, and then took his plate through to the kitchen. He could hear someone sigh from then next room – probably Carole – and Kurt rolled his eyes and turned to walk back to his bedroom.

The doorbell rang then, and he frowned, wondering who could be coming to visit at this hour. He figured it was probably Mercedes or Rachel, who were known to drop in unexpectedly from time to time, so he went to the door and pulled it open, preparing to tell them to leave because he wasn't in the best of moods.

'Kurt! Excellent, this is the right house! See, Marcus, I told you it was the right house!' Simon Randall beamed at him, 'do you mind if I come in? Of course you don't! How are you, son?'

'I – um, I'm okay,' Kurt replied, stepping back so that Simon could pass. A moment later Marcus Parlay followed, and Blaine brought up the rear. He smiled at Kurt as he stepped inside.

'Lovely house,' he commented, looking around, 'I hope you don't mind the intrusion. I always seem to interrupt you.'

'Not a problem,' Kurt assured him, sounding dazed. He couldn't believe that these people had actually come to his house. To _his_ house, 'uh… why are you here?'

'Because you weren't allowed to play the part,' Simon explained, 'and we didn't like that, because you were the one that we wanted. So we decided to convince your dad to let you act. Where is he, by the way?'

'In the kitchen… um…'

'Kurt, who's at the door?' Carole asked, walking into the room, wiping her hands on her apron, 'oh, hello.'

'Hello! You must be Kurt's mother!' Simon exclaimed, walking forward to shake her hand. Kurt flinched at the term 'mother' – he still hadn't moved past calling Carole by her first name; calling her mom didn't feel natural just yet.

'Stepmother, actually,' Carole corrected him kindly, 'my name is Carole.'

'My name is Simon Randall,' Simon told her, 'and I'm one of the directors of Savior of Light; the film your stepson auditioned for. H completely blew us away.'

'He's a very talented young man,' Carole agreed, beaming at him.

'This is Marcus Parlay, another director,' Simon gestured behind him, and Marcus gave a polite nod and nothing more.

'I'm Blaine Anderson,' Blaine spoke up, walking forward to shake Carole's hand too, 'I'm –'

'I know who you are,' Carole told him fondly, 'Kurt and I have seen all your movies together.'

'I didn't know Kurt was that much of a fan,' Blaine grinned, glancing at Kurt, 'but we really would like to talk things over with his father, if you don't mind.'

'I'll get him for you. I won't be a moment.' Carole smiled at them and left the room. Simon whistled softly and took a seat on the couch.

'You'll get your role,' he told Kurt, 'don't worry. I've done plenty of schmoozing in my lifetime.'

Carole returned with Burt a minute later, and he didn't look very pleased. Simon stood up and grinned at him.

'Mr Hummel,' he extended his hand, and Burt shook it gruffly, 'my name is –'

'I know who you are,' Burt sighed, 'and I know what you're here for. Please… sit.'

Marcus and Simon sat down on the couch, and Burt sat in his armchair. Blaine looked unsure as to what to do – he knew that the directors would be doing all the talking.

'Kurt… why don't you show Blaine around the house?' Carole suggested. Kurt looked at her incredulously, but Blaine smiled.

'That sounds like fun. I'd like that.'

'Okay…' Kurt agreed, 'I can show him my room, at least.'

He gestured for Blaine to follow him and he led him downstairs to his bedroom. Blaine was looking around at the cramped house, looking mesmerized.

'Your house is so nice,' he commented, sounding sincere, 'it's so… homely.'

'It's okay.' Kurt shrugged, 'when my dad married Carole they bought this house so that there would be room for all of us, but it's still a little small.'

They reached Kurt's bedroom door and Blaine 's expression turned wistful.

'The house I grew up in,' he told Kurt, 'was so cold. It was too big – there were only three of us, and our housekeeper – and so many rooms. But there was no love in it. I don't have the best relationship with my parents.'

Kurt frowned. He didn't know that; though he didn't see why he would know that – he'd only met Blaine once before, and then only briefly. But he still felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. Unsure of what to do, he patted Blaine on the arm and the boy gave him a small smile.

'It's okay,' he assured him, 'you don't have to say anything.'

Kurt opened the door to his bedroom and made to walk in, but stopped in his tracks.

'Uh… actually, let's not go in here.' he suggested, trying to sound nonchalant, 'we can go into the games room or something and hang out.'

'Why not your room?' Blaine asked, 'you were fine with it a moment ago…'

'Um…' Kurt turned and smiled at him for a moment, 'hang on just a second then.'

He stepped into his room and shut the door in Blaine's face, noticing the look of confusion on his face.

'Damn it. Damn, damn, damn.'

He'd forgotten until the last moment, but above his bed was perhaps the biggest poster of Blaine Anderson he'd ever seen.

Well, the largest one he could find online.

He jumped up onto his bed and grabbed the top corner of it and made to pull it down, but remembered he'd stuck it on with tape. He groaned and fumbled with the edge of the piece of tape, cursing it for being so stuck down.

The door chose then to swing open, and Blaine stepped inside the room.

'Is everything oka –' he started, and then noticed what Kurt was doing. He fell silent, and Kurt's cheeks started to burn.

But then Blaine started to laugh, and laugh, so hard that he had to hold on to the door to stop himself from falling over.

'This isn't funny.' Kurt groaned, still trying to pull the poster down.

'No, leave it.' Blaine smiled, his laughter subsiding. He looked rather flattered, 'but I feel bad now. I feel like I should have a photo of you, being my co-star and all.'

Kurt shrugged, still feeling rather embarrassed. Blaine snapped his fingers after a moment.

'Hang on,' he grinned, pulling his phone out of his pocket, 'pose!'

'Wait, what?' Kurt frowned, 'pose? Looking like this? Are you crazy?'

'You look fine,' Blaine laughed, 'come on!'

Kurt rolled his eyes, but cocked his hip and pouted his lips at Blaine, who laughed and snapped a photo.

'Perfect!' Blaine chuckled, setting the phone as his wallpaper and showing it to Kurt, who laughed, 'see? Now we're both crazy fan-boys.'

Kurt smiled at him and Blaine looked around his room, sitting on the bed.

'You have a very stylish room,' he commented, 'mine was an absolute mess when I was living at home.'

'I try,' Kurt smiled, sitting at his desk, 'I hope everything is going okay upstairs.'

'Simon knows what he's doing,' Blaine assured him, 'don't worry, we're not going to be replacing you anytime soon. Why… why won't your dad let you?'

Kurt stared at the floor for a moment before speaking.

'My dad… he thinks that I'm going to get a negative response for the film,' Kurt explained slowly, 'because… you know, I _am_ gay. And at school… it's not really the most accepted thing.'

Blaine nodded, listening intently. Kurt took a deep breath and continued.

'He's just… trying to look out for me, you know?' he told Blaine, 'my mom died when I was eight and it's always been me and dad and he just wants me to be safe. I get that part… but it's disappointing that he won't let me take a chance, you know? I'm not a kid anymore. I've had to handle so much... _negativity. _This should be no different.'

'Your mom died?' Blaine asked sadly, looking apologetic, 'I'm so sorry. Now I get why your dad is being so strict.'

'Yeah… she was sick. But don't be sorry, it's not your fault.' Kurt shrugged, 'it was a long time ago.'

'It must still hurt though.'

'It does.' Kurt nodded, 'but let's not talk about that right now.'

'Okay, let's talk about other things. Why don't you tell me about yourself? We should get to know each other, seeing as we're going to be spending a lot of time together.'

'Well, I'm Kurt Hummel,' Kurt started, 'I just turned eighteen –'

'Hey, I'm eighteen too!' Blaine interjected, and Kurt smiled at him.

'I know that. I go to McKinley High,' Kurt continued, 'um… I wanted to be on Broadway, before this movie thing came up. Now I guess I'm just going to go where it takes me. I want to move to New York one day, though. That's my dream.'

'Well, I'll make sure we get you to New York at some stage,' Blaine grinned, 'I think that our characters have to go to New York anyway at some stage in the film.'

'Really?' Kurt asked, sitting up.

'No.' Blaine grinned, shifting on the bed, 'but we can make it happen.'

'How are you so nice?' Kurt blurted out, and Blaine raised an eyebrow at him, 'I mean, I just thought that –'

'That I played nice for the cameras so people would like me more?' Blaine finished, suddenly sounding a little dry, 'a lot of people seem to think that. But they don't remember that a few years ago I didn't have any of this. I'm still a normal person, just like everyone else…'

'Sorry,' Kurt apologized, 'I just… don't worry. What about you? Did you always want to act?'

'I've always wanted to sing,' Blaine replied, 'I'm a much better singer than actor, I think. But I just felt… so trapped by Ohio, that I auditioned for the first thing that came up just to get out of here, so I did it, and here I am.'

'I haven't heard you sing before,' Kurt commented, 'well, that once, when I was practicing. Why don't you sing more?'

'It's not in my job description.' Blaine shrugged, 'they don't want me doing things that I'm not meant to be doing. I'm not really allowed to sing on camera or whatever.'

'But… that's horrible. If that's what you love doing… you sounded like you had a good voice.'

'Defying Gravity isn't exactly the greatest song for my range,' Blaine explained, 'but… sometimes I write my own songs. I don't get to show them off that much – only to Simon; he hates it when they don't let me sing.'

'Well – sing for me?' Kurt suggested, and Blaine looked a little unsure, 'come on. You've heard me sing. I won't judge.'

'Okay…' Blaine nodded, and looked a little nervous for a moment, 'alright. Well, this song is called To Have a Home, and I wrote it a few years ago. I dunno, it's not that good.'

'Stop babbling and sing, Blaine.' Kurt ordered, but his voice was kind. Blaine sighed and then nodded, and then began to sing.

_Home,_

_I've heard the word before,_

_But it's never meant much more than just a thing,_

_I never had._

_A place,_

_They say, 'hey, know your place,'_

_But I've never had a place to even know,_

_Or a face that I could go to if I needed someone there_

His eyes were shut and he looked wholly concentrated on the song, and the voice issuing from his lips was beautiful and velvety and perfect. Kurt's eyes widened, and he could only stare at the boy sitting on the bed in front of him, who was obviously lost within his own world and his song. It was beautiful, but somehow a tiny bit sad.

_I'm laughing,_

_It's hard to hide a smile,_

_My god, it's been a while since I have had,_

_A reason to._

_To think,_

_It's been here all along,_

_Somewhere to belong,_

_And a reason,_

_A something-to-believe-in,_

_I've finally found it,_

_A place where I'm wanted,_

_This must be how it feels, _

_To have a home._

His voice had been soft and careful for the first few verses, and Kurt was mystified, but the next few lines were belted out – and Blaine's voice was strong and still _so _perfect and Kurt felt a shiver run through him.

_I used to dream about it,_

_But never schemed or counted,_

_On fantasies or wishes,_

_It breaks a man to see what he misses_

_And so many nights I prayed_

_For a better life, a better day_

_But I never thought that it'd come true,_

_It's finally here and I don't know what to do,_

_And I'm trying not to cry._

If Blaine was trying not to cry, Kurt was holding back waterfalls. He'd never heard a boy sing like that – not Puck, not Finn, not even Artie. He was so pure and honest and was so, so undeniably talented.

_This must be how it feels  
to have a home_

Blaine opened his eyes and looked up at Kurt, smiling at him as he sung the last few lines. Kurt felt his heart quicken as Blaine sang right to him.

_Why are you straight_? he thought miserably, _why on earth are you straight?_

_I've finally made it_  
_I've hoped and I've waited_  
_and for the first time in my life, I don't feel so alone_

_My heart starts to heal_  
_to know that it's real._  
_This is how it must feel_  
_to have a home_

He held the last note for a good long time and when he was finished, Kurt couldn't resist clapping.

'You blow me out of the water, seriously Blaine,' he gushed, and Blaine ducked his head and blushed modestly, 'why don't you branch out and record something?'

'There's singing in the new film, which will be good,' he told Kurt, 'and we're going to have to record an album for the soundtrack. So if that goes well… who knows?'

There was a knock at the door and Carole poked her head through.

'Kurt, your father wants you upstairs,' she told him, and then smiled at Blaine and added, 'beautiful song, honey.'

Blaine grinned at her, and followed Kurt upstairs. His father was looking less grim than before, but still hesitant.

'So, I've been talking to these two,' Burt stared, but Simon interrupted him and grinned.

'You can do the film!' he exclaimed, and Kurt's mouth dropped open.

'There's more to it than that, kiddo, so don't go getting all excited now,' Burt warned, 'we're going to have to have a long talk about this, okay?'

'Thank you so much, dad!' Kurt threw himself at his father, hugging him tightly, 'thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm going to make you so proud!'

Blaine leaned against the door, his arms crossed over his chest. He watched the scene before him fondly, but with a heavy heart. Never in his life had he had such a good relationship with his father. He wished he was able to hug his father without him turning him away all the time.

'We basically explained our reasons for wanting you on the project so badly,' Simon told Kurt, 'and then we explained how this would benefit the gay community. And then we begged a little bit.'

'_You_ begged,' Marcus corrected, folding his arms across his chest, 'begging is below me.'

Simon rolled his eyes but smiled at Kurt nevertheless.

'So we still expect to see you at Dalton this weekend,' Simon continued, brushing his hair out of his face, 'because we have to go over things and get you acquainted with your role and get you measured for costumes and get you vocal lessons – not that you need them, but protocol – and acting lessons – not that you really need those too, but then again, we have to do it, and introduce you to the rest of the cast and there's so much to be done!'

'But it is getting late, so we must be getting back,' Marcus spoke up, now standing somewhere near the door. Kurt raised an eyebrow at him – he really was a strange guy.

'I'm so excited,' Blaine told Kurt, turning to him and, to Kurt's surprise, pulling him into a tight hug, 'you're going to be great. This will be so much fun. Oh wait – give me your phone.'

Confused, Kurt handed Blaine his phone and Blaine quickly typed his number in.

'I took yours from the sheet,' Blaine confessed, 'just in case I need to get in contact with you. Or I get bored. I'll text you tomorrow or something!'

'Now, Kurt, we have to ask you to please, _please_ not give out any of Blaine's contact details, okay?' Simon told him sternly, 'otherwise, we're seriously dropping you as lead. It's confidential, and I know you're a good kid and won't misbehave, but please. Keep it to yourself.'

'Of course, I would never do that.' Kurt assured them, 'thank you guys for coming and helping. It means so much to me.'

'Not a problem,' Simon grinned, clapping Kurt on the shoulder and moving to the door, 'come on Blaine, we should be going.'

'Bye, Kurt!' Blaine hugged Kurt again, and he was almost too shocked to hug him back. He felt as though his whole body had been set alight, and he internally groaned for the thousandth time that night that Blaine wasn't actually gay.

'Bye, guys. I'll see you all on Saturday.' Kurt smiled at them and unlocked the front door so that they could leave. When they had gone, Blaine giving Kurt one final grin, he shut the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes and exhaling through his nose.

'I don't believe this.' he murmured.

'Isn't Blaine nice?' Carole cooed, 'such a polite boy. You wouldn't expect it.'

'Yeah, well… we can't just judge him by his fame, Carole,' Kurt told her, glad he'd learnt that lesson earlier, 'he is very nice.'

Burt shifted and then looked at Kurt.

'Kurt, son…' he started, and Kurt waited for the lecture to start. But it never did. Burt simply sighed and held his arms open, 'I'm proud of you, kiddo.'

Kurt's face split into a huge smile and he hugged his father again.

'Thank you so much dad,' he whispered, 'I promise I'll be okay. And - and I'm sorry about what I said about mom. I know she would have taken your side.'

'It's okay, kiddo,' Burt assured him, stroking his hair, 'it's okay. She would have been so proud of you. I know she_ is _proud.'

Kurt held onto his father tighter, and couldn't help smiling into his chest, because for now, everything was okay.

* * *

**So I am absolutely in awe of the attention this story is getting, and I can't thank all of you enough. You're all amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time out to read this.**

**Oh, and it's my birthday tomorrow! I'm so excited. That means tomorrow's update will come to you at maybe three am Australian EST because I'm not going to be home until late tomorrow. And by tomorrow I mean Sunday. So... technically that's Monday morning. Remember, I update daily. Well, I'll try to anyway! Please leave me a review letting me know if you enjoyed this or hated it or anything in between. Love you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

'You will never guess who came to my house last night.' Kurt grinned excitedly, sliding into the seat next to Rachel in the cafeteria, 'seriously. Guess.'

'Lady Gaga?' Mercedes offered, stabbing into her salad and looking at it with distaste. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

'Hmm… judging by the stupid smile you have on your face, I'm going to say Blaine.'

Kurt nodded, his cheeks flushed with happiness, and Mercedes and Rachel gasped.

'I didn't think I got it right,' she admitted, before turning to Kurt, 'why? What happened?'

Kurt recounted the story of how Burt wouldn't let him do the movie – then silencing Mercedes and Rachel's outraged protests, he continued.

'So the directors and _Blaine _came to my _house _to convince him to let me do the film,' he explained, 'and while the adults were talking business, Carole suggested I show Blaine around the house. Blaine Anderson was in my _room_.'

'Get out!' Rachel exclaimed, so loudly that a few people actually turned to look. Kurt gestured for her to keep her voice down, 'in your room?' she hissed.

'In my room.' Kurt confirmed, 'on my bed. Honest to god. It was so embarrassing – he saw the poster.'

Mercedes and Rachel groaned in unison.

'That is horrible,' Mercedes told him, though Kurt could tell she was stifling a laugh, 'what did he say?'

'Well… I was trying to take it down and he told me to leave it up,' Kurt replied, and then blushed faintly, his eyes gleaming, 'and then he took a photo of me and set it as his wallpaper on his phone so that he could be a 'fan' of me, too, because we're working together now.'

'Oh my god, that boy is _so _not straight,' Rachel commented, 'what else did you guys do?'

'He sang for me,' Kurt grinned, 'he actually sang me an original song.'

'Does he have a nice voice?' Mercedes asked, sounding a little envious, 'I didn't even know he sang.'

Kurt exhaled, shaking his head at the memory. He could still hear Blaine's voice, clear as day in his head.

'He's… amazing. Much better than any of the boys in glee club. No offence, Rachel.'

'I know Finn isn't the most talented boy in the world,' she shrugged, 'but how did you get him to sing for you? You barely know him.'

'He's really nice.' Kurt replied, 'like… he's _nice_. He's just like any other boy. We just click, you know? I think we're going to end up being good friends.'

Mercedes and Rachel smiled at that, but Kurt couldn't help but wish that at the end of this movie, he would be something a little more than friends with Blaine.

* * *

'Welcome to the set of Savior of Light!'

Simon gestured broadly around him and Kurt was slightly in awe of what he saw. He was vaguely aware that Blaine would be acting as a student of the school – which was slightly ironic, as Dalton Academy was the high school he had gone too. There was a great amount of lights, sound equipment, and other equipment Kurt couldn't recognize or name. There were tables of snacks and coffee and a great deal of shouting, not to mention the bustle of many people. He looked around, dumbstruck, before Simon took him by the arm gently and led him away from the chaos of the halls.

'Right, I think the first thing we need to do for you is get you to your vocal coach,' Simon told him, 'and then you can go be fitted for you costumes. Your dad will probably just leave after he's done the paperwork so I hope you have a ride home, because we'll be finishing late.'

'Oh...well, I could get him to come and pick me up or something, I guess.' Kurt shrugged, 'we'll worry about that later. Where do I go now?'

'I'll take you,' Simon smiled, leading him down a corridor and to a staircase, 'well, I'll take you to here, anyway. Just go up the stairs and take the first door on the left; your vocal coach will be in there.'

Kurt thanked him and went up the stairs, finding the room easily. It appeared to be an unused classroom, because all the tables and chairs were pushed back and there was a large black piano in the centre of the room. At the keys sat Blaine, frowning at a stack of sheet music which was set on the keys, and a rather young looking woman with straight black hair, who was looking exasperated.

'Can't you just play it the way I want it?' she asked Blaine, who frowned at her.

'No.' he replied resolutely, 'this is horrible and I don't want to play it.'

The woman rolled her eyes at him.

'It's not like anything you play is any better,' she snapped, 'and I get to tell you what to do, kid, so don't get snappy at me.'

She sighed dramatically and pulled her phone out, tapping furiously on it. While she was doing this, Blaine stuck his tongue out at her and made faces, mocking her. Kurt giggled from the doorway, and the sound made Blaine look up at him.

'Kurt!' he exclaimed, smiling, 'man, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you right now. Come in, come in.'

The woman looked up from her phone when Blaine started talking.

'Who are you?' she asked, and there was an edge to her tone that Kurt didn't like.

'Kurt Hummel.' Kurt replied, allowing a little bit of his own attitude into his tone, 'I'm here for the vocal lesson.'

'It's about time you got here.' she snapped, setting her phone down on the piano, 'come in, I seriously don't have all day.'

'She's very friendly,' Blaine told Kurt sarcastically, 'such a great woman, really. How are you?'

'Fine, thank you,' Kurt replied, dropping his satchel next to the piano, 'and you?'

'Fabulous.' Blaine grinned, before turning back to the piano, 'anyway, this is Meredith and she's meant to teach us how to sing.'

'What's your range?' Meredith asked, glaring at Blaine, 'hopefully you're more talented than this one.'

Kurt looked between them, confused. He wondered why they hated each other so much.

'I'm a countertenor,' he replied, 'um... are you two like... safe to be working together?'

'More or less,' Blaine replied, the smile never leaving his face, 'come, sit. Can you read sheet music?'

Kurt nodded, and Blaine slid over so that there was more room for Kurt on the bench.

'Try play this.' he told Kurt, gesturing to the sheet music. Kurt frowned at the symbols on the page for a moment before finding his place on the keys and beginning to play a jerky, disjointed melody.

'Am I playing this right?' he asked, frowning, 'it feels so... awkward.'

'No. No, you're playing it, exactly right.' Blaine told him, shooting an I-told-you-so look at Meredith, 'and it sucks, right? That is not going in the movie.'

Kurt was hesitant to agree that it sucked – which it did – because Meredith was glaring daggers at him now, instead of Blaine. He shrugged and let his hands fall in his lap.

'Whatever,' she rolled her eyes again, and pointed at Kurt, 'go ahead. Do some scales then.'

_Some vocal coach, _Kurt thought, _she doesn't seem to know what she's doing at all._

He hit the appropriate keys and let out a series of hums, steadily getting higher and higher. Meredith watched him, unimpressed, while Blaine looked intrigued.

'I wish I had your range,' he confessed once Kurt had finished, 'you're so versatile.'

'Don't be silly.' Kurt replied, smiling, 'you have a lovely voice.'

They shared a smile and Meredith scoffed.

'Whatever then. Kurt, since you haven't had any training before, we're going to have to work on you a little more. Here – try singing this.'

She handed Kurt the sheet music for _Let It Be _by the Beetles, and Kurt smiled.

'I love this song.' he remarked, setting the music on the ledge on the piano.

'May I?' Blaine asked, gesturing to the sheet music and then the keys.

'Be my guest.' Kurt replied, and Blaine's fingers found the right keys with ease.

Kurt began to sing, relishing the feeling of singing while Blaine was playing. They were cramped together on the bench, so close that their arms were brushing. Kurt was certain he was getting in the way of Blaine's playing, but Blaine didn't protest and Kurt wasn't about to, either.

Meredith was watching them critically, and even though Kurt's voice blended seamlessly with the piano, she was frowning.

Halfway through the song, she stopped them.

'Alright, can you sound perhaps a little less feminine?' she asked, and Kurt resisted the urge to let his mouth fall open, 'it's two boys in the movie – not a girl and a guy. We don't want people to get the wrong idea.'

Kurt blinked at her, and couldn't reply. He was sick of people abusing him because of his voice – it wasn't something he could control. And certainly something his _vocal coach _shouldn't be forcing him to suppress. Surprisingly, the next person to speak was Blaine.

'And on that bitchy, bitchy note,' he announced, 'this vocal lesson – not that you're even adept at teaching people how to sing – is over. Goodbye, Meredith.'

He grabbed Kurt's arm and his satchel from the floor and marched him out of the room. Kurt didn't even spare Meredith a backwards glance, but a moment later he heard her hit the keys of the piano in what was probably frustration.

Blaine wordlessly led Kurt down the stairs where Kurt had come up, down another corridor – Kurt hadn't realized how huge the school was – and then down another corridor into a large, well lit room filled with comfortable looking couches, a number of bookcases and a large fireplace.

'This is the common room,' Blaine told Kurt, sitting on one of the couches, 'for the seniors, at least. I used to spend a lot of time in here.'

Kurt sat on the couch opposite to Blaine's gingerly, and silence fell between them. Kurt was still a little thrown off by Meredith; he thought that his voice had got him this part – now he was being asked to change? He didn't know what to do. If he had to change himself just for this film, he didn't know if he wanted to be a part of it.

'I know what Meredith said is bothering you,' Blaine spoke up carefully after a while, 'and I want you to know that she's an idiot, and you shouldn't listen to her. And you should definitely not change the way you sing.'

Kurt didn't reply, and Blaine sighed.

'Okay, Kurt, look,' Blaine started, leaning forward and looking at Kurt intently, 'who you are, right now, sitting on that couch in front of me, is what got you this role. The way you hold yourself, the way you talk, and especially the way you sing. If being your absolute self got you this role, why would you want to change that?'

'I don't know.' Kurt shrugged, looking a little defeated, 'I've had people mock me and abuse me for my voice all my life. As much as I love it, I just wish it could be a little more… normal… sometimes.'

Blaine scoffed.

'Normal?' he repeated, 'Kurt, what is normal? There is no such thing as _normal_. We're all different for a reason. Some are just… better different. Like you.'

Kurt smiled at him, but it was fleeting. He had other things on his mind.

'What's the deal with you and Meredith anyway?' he asked. Blaine bit his lip and looked sour.

'Meredith and I,' he began, 'had a thing last year. I know. She's a few years older than me and it was more or less for publicity, but yeah, we had something.

But then Meredith began leaking information about me – my number, my address, upcoming roles. All for money, you know? That sort of stuff. And she… she threatened to reveal something very, _very _personal about me that she ended up finding out. She wasn't meant to but… that was the reason we ended up splitting. She threatened to tell so I threatened to ruin her reputation and now we're just at each other's throats all the time. She's… dangerous, to say the least. I don't care about being on her bad side anymore because a long time has passed since then and I don't think anyone would believe anything she says but… I have to keep an eye on her. You shouldn't worry about her, though. Feel free to tell her to shut up.'

Kurt almost asked what the _very _personal thing was, but he decided that if Blaine wasn't about to tell him, he wasn't about to ask. Blaine smiled at Kurt and stood up.

'Let's go find Simon,' he suggested, 'I'm sure he'll be able to find something to do.'

As he passed Kurt, he patted him on the shoulder, and Kurt was quick to follow him. There was a niggling feeling at the back of his mind, something telling him that Blaine Anderson was hiding quite a lot.

And he was determined to find out just what the boy was really about.

* * *

**Man, Meredith is horrid! But her role in this story is far from over, unfortunately! Next up, Kurt receives some interesting - however unwanted - attention at school once the tabloids start heating up, and Blaine is forced to face some demons from his past. Not to mention some more of our favorite director, Simon, and the world's best glee club - the New Directions, in all their glory!**

**I'm feeling absolutely awful – so please forgive the horrible chapter. I promise it'll actually be interesting soon. **

**Apart from that, I had a wonderful birthday, I love you all and thank you for the birthday wishes. As always, please let me know what you think and once again, I am astounded at the response this story is getting. Adios, until tomorrow! (Or maybe in a few hours, depends on how creative I'm feeling)**


	6. Chapter 6

Not long after, Kurt was introduced to the team's fashion designer; he looked about twenty, with spiky, platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing tight jeans in zebra print, a turquoise vest over a very loose singlet with some band name splashed across the front, and had bright red sunglasses perched on top of his forehead. It was an odd outfit, but it worked on him, and Kurt found him quite attractive.

'Oh, hello!' he exclaimed, 'my name is Ryan! You must be Kurt Hummel, it's _so _nice to meet you.'

He extended his hand and Kurt shook it briefly. Ryan's smile was bright and welcoming, and Kurt felt oddly drawn to him.

'It's nice to meet you too,' he replied, taking in his eccentric outfit, and then the racks of clothes around them. He didn't know what they had in store for his character – for all he knew, he was homeless in this movie. He hadn't had a chance to read over the script yet.

Ryan was walking around him, looking at him critically.

'Hmm,' he mused, 'I hate to pull you out of these fabulous clothes, I really do –'

'Do you really?' Blaine snorted, though he sounded bitter. For a moment, Kurt had forgotten that Blaine was there with him. He looked at him, confused, but Blaine merely shook his head. Kurt could still feel Ryan's gaze raking over his body, and the thought of being so scrutinized made him feel rather uncomfortable.

Ryan had merely rolled his eyes at Blaine's comment.

'Alright, your character is very lower-middle class,' Ryan told him, 'I'm not sure if you read through the script or not but for you it'll be jeans and t-shirts and sweaters.'

Kurt was definitely not very happy about that – his fashion sense meant everything to him, but he figured that it was only for filming, so he wouldn't protest.

Ryan had now pulled out a measuring tape and was holding it against various parts of Kurt's body, pulling his arms out straight and looping the tape around his hips and waist.

'You have an amazing taste in clothes,' he commented conversationally after a moment, 'not many of the people I get to work with care about what they wear.'

Kurt noticed Blaine look down at his own outfit as Ryan spoke, seeming a little self conscious. But he figured he was just imagining things, so he focused his attention back on Ryan.

'Thank you,' he smiled, 'apart from singing, it's the only way I can really express myself.'

'Oh, I heard about your voice! Everyone's been talking about it.' Ryan informed him, '_That boy who sounds like an angel._'

'Oh, I'm not that good.' Kurt laughed, blushing faintly. Ryan scoffed.

'I'll be the judge of that. Why don't you sing something now while I find you something to try on?'

Kurt contemplated this – he really did love singing, and it's not like he was showing off if people genuinely wanted to hear him sing.

'Sure,' he shrugged, 'do you have any requests?'

'Um…' Ryan bit his lip, thinking, 'do you know Rent?'

'Um, yeah!' Kurt replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, 'any requests?'

'Well, I sing sometimes,' Ryan told him, 'what about I'll Cover You?'

'I love that song!' Kurt grinned, 'it's one of my favorites.'

'Take it away, then!'

Blaine crossed his arms over his chest as Kurt began to sing; he was amazing, no doubt, but the two of them had apparently forgotten that he existed, and he leaned against one of the tables and watched as the two danced around each other, giggling and smiling.

He had to admit that Ryan had a nice voice – but Ryan was a bit of a sleaze, and Kurt didn't need to get involved with someone like him.

Not that Blaine really cared – it _was _Kurt's life, after all, and he had only known him for a week. It's not like he had any say in what the boy did. But he didn't want Kurt to have his heart broken, especially by _Ryan _of all people.

_Chill, Blaine_, he reprimanded himself mentally, _they're only singing. And dancing. And flirting. Right._

Ryan had grabbed Kurt's hand and was spinning him around the room, making Kurt giggle. They seemed to be having fun, at least.

Blaine, not really wanting to be the apparent third wheel, slipped out of the room quietly, unnoticed by the other two. He almost ran into Meredith, who had stopped to look inside the room at the sound of singing.

'Oh, hello Blaine,' she smirked, 'so kind of you to run out of my music lesson.'

'So kind of you to try and suppress Kurt's obvious talent,' he retorted, 'you should try and stop being so jealous.'

'Me, jealous?' Meredith laughed scathingly, 'I'm not the one who had to leave the room. Why's that, Blaine? Jealous of Kurt's voice? Or jealous of Ryan for stealing your little costar?'

'I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.' Blaine shot, narrowing his eyes at the woman. She simply smiled back at him, knowing she was getting to him.

'Don't be ridiculous, Blaine. We all know how much of a problem you have with sharing.'

'Kurt – Kurt isn't something to share.' Blaine told her flatly, though his voice was shaking slightly, 'he's not a _toy_.'

'Really?' Meredith feigned confusion, 'with the way you're acting around him, I thought he was your little toy. Ta-ta, Blainers.'

Blaine stared after her, trying not to let her stupid mind games get to him again. He wasn't doing anything with Kurt – nothing bad; at least, that's what he thought.

He didn't like boys – that was final. Whatever little games Meredith wanted to play with him wouldn't work, because he knew what he wanted.

And what he wanted was _not _Kurt Hummel.

He shook his head, trying to clear it, but the sound of the boys still singing inside – they'd moved on to other songs – and couldn't help but be bothered by it, but he couldn't place why. Something about seeing his new costar sing and dance with others made him feel odd. Maybe it was because Blaine had heard him sing first, and now he was hesitant to share his talent.

Yeah, that was probably it.

* * *

'Hey, Blaine, what are you doing out of costume?' Simon asked, stumbling upon Blaine in the break room. Blaine shrugged.

'Costume? More like impromptu theatre performances, starring Kurt Hummel and Ryan Westworth.' Blaine replied, stirring his coffee and taking a long sip.

'What do you mean?' Simon frowned.

'I mean,' Blaine explained, sounding sour, 'that they've been singing for the past god knows how long and I can't exactly stop them because apparently I don't exist anymore.'

Blaine had returned to the room after about ten minutes, only to find that they had moved on to singing songs from Hairspray. Exasperated, he went to make himself a coffee and ponder why he was so bothered by their instant connection.

'Do you want me to go break them up?' Simon asked, sitting across from Blaine, 'have you been fitted yet?'

'No, it's okay,' Blaine shook his head and sipped at his coffee, 'I just… don't know.'

'What's bothering you, son?' Simon asked, resting his chin in his hands, 'you seem a little down.'

'Well… I don't know. Seeing Kurt with Ryan bothers me.'

'Why?'

'Because,' Blaine sighed, 'I feel like if anyone should be getting close to him, it should be me, right? I mean, we're going to be working together. Ryan's just the costume guy. Kurt and I are going to have to be comfortable with each other – and right now he's ignoring me.'

'Well… why don't you two wrap up early; I don't need much done from you two today, anyway – and you can take him out to dinner or something. I could call up a restaurant and ask them to close early so you two don't get mobbed while you're out.'

'Dinner?' Blaine repeated, sounding skeptical, 'you want me to take a boy out to dinner?'

Simon gave him a look and Blaine sighed.

'Fine, okay. Dinner is fine.' he nodded, 'you go ahead and call up and I'll go get fitted and then perhaps be able to drag Kurt away.'

'Alright, I'll do that.' Simon stood up and turned to leave, but hesitated and turned around, 'and Blaine?'

'Yeah?'

'Don't… don't force it back, okay?'

He nodded to Blaine a final time and left. Blaine sighed heavily and stared down at his coffee, letting his thoughts envelope him once more.

* * *

Blaine went back to the costume room, to find that Kurt and Ryan were now in deep conversation about New York; Kurt wanted to go there for college, from what Blaine could gather from the doorway, and Ryan was telling Kurt – well, _bragging – _about his own experiences there.

'The shopping is to _die _for,' Ryan was telling an awestruck Kurt, 'I mean, you just _have _to see it. Everyone there dresses like me and you; they have some sort of _appreciation _for fashion that you just can't find here.'

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him and chose then to walk in, clearing his throat loudly.

'Oh, hey, Blaine,' Kurt smiled, looking away from Ryan for what was probably the first time in half an hour, 'I didn't even notice you were gone.'

Blaine felt a tug of annoyance at the comment, but he let it slide off.

'Yeah, just went to get some coffee,' he replied, 'so, um, Simon said that after we get fitted we're free to go.'

'Oh, cool. I should call my dad; I don't have a ride home.'

'Well, um. Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner with me. I can drive you home after.' Blaine told him, sounding hopeful. Kurt looked at him curiously for a moment, as though he had to think hard about his reply.

'You want to take me out to dinner?' he repeated, sounding unsure. Blaine nodded.

'Sure. I thought it would be a good way to get to know each other.'

He wasn't about to mention it was Simon's idea, and he felt himself smile involuntarily when Kurt's face lit up a moment later.

'Sure! I'll just let my dad know I'll be home late.' Kurt told him, pulling out his phone and standing up, 'excuse me.'

He walked out of the room, leaving Ryan and Blaine by themselves. Ryan shot a glare at Blaine.

'I don't know what you're doing, Blaine, but don't lead the kid on.'

'I'm not leading anyone on!' Blaine retorted, 'you on the other hand. Singing and dancing with him? Come on.'

'I was being friendly, actually,' Ryan informed him, 'I happen to like Kurt. He's nice.'

'You can't like Kurt; you just met him.' Blaine reminded him, sighing, 'are you twelve years old?'

'Well then I guess the same principle applies to you.'

'I'm not gay, Ryan,' Blaine folded his arms across his chest, 'forgive me for trying to bond with him. I want to be friends with him. I don't want to get in his pants, like you.'

Ryan opened his mouth to reply, but Kurt chose then to walk back in.

'Okay, dad's fine with it,' he told Blaine breathlessly, 'I've got all my measurements done, too. Do you want me to wait here while you get measured?'

'Actually, no, I think we're fine with Blaine,' Ryan all but snapped, 'it's not like he actually grows, so I'll just use the measurements from last time.'

'So kind of you.' Blaine commented sarcastically, 'so if that's all then, we're going to go.'

'Bye Ryan!' Kurt smiled, hugging the costume designer tightly, 'it was really nice meeting you.'

'I'll text you later, Kurt,' Ryan replied, and Blaine was surprised that they'd exchanged numbers so soon.

'Sounds good. See you!'

They left the room together. Blaine felt obliged to warn Kurt that Ryan liked to play games, and that he should be careful, but decided against it.

_Let him make his own mistakes, _he thought somewhat bitterly, _you don't owe him anything._

Blaine texted Simon to find out where they would be eating and Simon responded that he's booked a small Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Westerville. Blaine was pleased; he knew the people who worked there well and the food was divine.

'Do you like Italian food?' he asked Kurt, who nodded, his eyes lighting up. Blaine noted that they were a shade that he'd never seen before; caught somewhere between blue and grey and green, but so very pale and fragile looking. He didn't realize he was staring until Kurt cleared his throat.

'Are you alright?' he asked, sounding slightly concerned. Blaine nodded, turning his head to hide his blush.

'Yeah, I'm okay.' he replied, 'just got a little distracted, that's all.'

They walked through the maze of corridors together, and when they finally made it outside, the sun was low in the sky.

'You don't even realize how long you're here for,' Blaine commented, 'even if you're doing nothing, time flies on set.'

Blaine drove a sleek, shiny black BMW and Kurt marveled at the cream interior once they were inside.

'Your car is gorgeous,' he told him, sounding impressed, 'this model can't be more than a few years old.'

'It's last year's, actually,' Blaine replied, 'you know about cars.'

Kurt smiled at him, 'I help my dad fix them at the shop.'

'Impressive.' Blaine grinned, turning the key in the ignition. At once, a Maroon 5 song began blaring out of the speakers.

Blaine made to turn it down, but Kurt moved his hand away gently.

'Leave it,' he requested, grinning, 'I love this song!'

He started to sing along, and Blaine shook his head in what could only be a fond way at Kurt's love of song. He pulled out of the parking lot and, unable to help himself, started to sing along.

He liked being with Kurt, he realized. He'd only known him for a little while but he appeared to be possibly the most genuine eighteen year old he'd ever met. He was so true to himself in every way, and Blaine couldn't help but admire it.

The ride to the restaurant was fun – it was mostly spent singing, or making random comments to each other. The restaurant wasn't too far away, anyway, so there wasn't much time to have a proper conversation. That was what dinner was for.

When they pulled up at the restaurant, the car park was empty and the lights inside were dim.

'They're expecting us,' Blaine told Kurt, 'Simon booked ahead so that we don't get swamped by the media – which, by the way, will happen soon, so don't freak out when it does.'

Kurt nodded slowly, unsure of if he was ready for paparazzi or not. He decided not to worry about it until it actually happened, and followed Blaine inside.

'Blaine!' an aging man exclaimed, looking pleased, 'welcome back! How are you?'

'I'm good, Lionel, thank you,' Blaine replied politely, shaking hands with the man. He beamed at him before looking over Blaine's shoulder at Kurt.

'And is this your date?' he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Kurt felt his cheeks color, but Blaine merely laughed.

'A friend,' he replied, 'we're working on a movie together and got hungry.'

'I see. Well, take a seat wherever you want and Maria will be out with the menus in a minute.'

He walked towards what was presumably the kitchen and Blaine turned to Kurt.

'Pick a seat.' he beamed, gesturing to the restaurant. Kurt looked around, and was immediately drawn to a small table in the back. It seated two people, and had a beautiful red candle in the center. He started walking towards it, and Blaine followed him without question.

'A little intimate,' Blaine teased once they'd sat down, 'are you trying to lure me on a date?'

Kurt blushed faintly, but rolled his eyes at Blaine.

'Yes, this was all a plot to seduce you,' he replied, and Blaine laughed. Kurt was surprised that Blaine found it easy to make comments like that – he didn't know any straight boys at his school who would even consider doing something like that.

A woman approached them then, handing them a menu each.

'How are you tonight, boys?' she asked, taking a pen from behind her ear.

'Good thank you, Maria,' Blaine replied, not bothering with the menu, 'I'll just have what I usually have, please.'

Maria scribbled something on her pad of paper and looked at Kurt.

'What about you, honey?' she asked kindly. Kurt bit his lip.

'I'll have the chicken and mushroom risotto, please,' he requested after a moment. Blaine looked surprised.

'No way! I always get that. Lionel's risotto is the best!' he declared, and Maria smiled at them.

'What can I get you to drink in the meantime?'

Blaine ordered a Coke and Kurt settled for a glass of water and Maria walked back to the kitchen.

'So, are you enjoying being on set?' Blaine asked, taking a sip of his drink. Kurt shrugged.

'I thought it would be a lot busier than what it is,' he admitted, 'I thought I would be running ragged but it's actually not that bad. It's pretty fun.'

'It's fun now,' Blaine warned, 'but you'll see in a few weeks when you're needed in a dozen different places at once.'

'I look forward to it,' Kurt winked, earning him a smile.

They talked about trivial topics until their food came; about what they wanted to be one day – in Kurt's case, a Broadway star, and Blaine wanted to record his own music. They talked about what kind of movies and music they liked, and what their respective schools were like. Kurt remembered competing and beating Dalton Academy's glee club, the Warblers, a year earlier.

When their food had been set down in front of them, the conversation turned slightly more personal.

'Have you ever had a boyfriend?' Blaine asked, to which Kurt scoffed.

'No,' he replied, sounding faintly amused, 'though it's kind of hard when you're the only out kid in Lima. Possibly all of Ohio, actually.'

'That sucks,' Blaine frowned, 'but it's okay. You'll get out of stupid Ohio and find someone, I can bet you that.'

Honestly, he felt slightly relieved that Kurt had never had a boyfriend. He couldn't imagine anyone from Ohio being up to Kurt's standards.

'What about you?' Kurt asked, 'girlfriends? Apart from Meredith, of course.'

Blaine cringed at the sound of Meredith's name. She was everywhere these days; like the plague. He couldn't seem to get rid of her.

'A few,' he replied, 'nothing serious, though. I never really connected with any of them.'

'That's fair enough,' Kurt nodded, 'don't worry, I'm sure one day you'll find a lovely woman to spend the rest of your life with.'

The smile Kurt received from that was strained. Blaine knew that Kurt was meaning well, but he didn't really know if he _would _find a nice girl to settle down with. As much as he would have liked to, he'd just never really been interested in any of them.

'So, why did you and Meredith break up?' Kurt asked after a moment. Blaine stared down at his food, feeling uncomfortable.

He had no reason _not _to tell Kurt, but he was still searching for a reason _to _tell him. He knew that Kurt was just curious, and he deserves honesty, but he just didn't know him that well. He wasn't comfortable discussing it with more or less anyone; bar Simon, whom he told everything to. But Kurt was still staring at him with utmost patience, and Blaine figured that if he could be patient now, he could wait a little longer to hear the story.

'I… I'm not comfortable talking about it,' he admitted, and Kurt looked just a little bit disappointed, 'I mean, I'd love to tell you. Just… not now.'

'That's fine.' Kurt smiled, 'don't feel obliged to tell me anything. I know we haven't known each other for long.'

'Even so, I feel like you know me better than most people,' Blaine told him with a small shrug. Kurt felt his heart speed up at the words, and he cleared his throat and changed the subject to something less personal.

He was enjoying himself – he found Blaine easy to talk to and a lot of fun. Of course, he wished he was here under different circumstances, and that this was actually a date rather than just a bonding experience, but he was lucky to even be sitting here at all. Not long ago he was fawning over Blaine's movies in the comfort of his own home, and now he was having dinner with Blaine, because _he'd _asked him to. It was unreal.

The rest of the evening was spent with lighthearted chatter. They avoided serious topics – Kurt was hesitant to ask about anything personal after Blaine didn't want to tell him about the breakup, and Blaine felt as though it would be wrong to ask seeing as he hadn't answered Kurt's question in the first place. Even so, Kurt hadn't had that much fun in a long time, and was looking forward to the next time Blaine asked him somewhere so that they could get to know each other better.

* * *

'I had such a good time tonight, you have no idea.' Kurt told Blaine as they pulled into his driveway. Blaine grinned at Kurt, switching the engine off.

'Me too, seriously,' Blaine replied, 'I don't get to do this often – and never with such interesting people like yourself. I'll walk you to the door?'

Kurt nodded and they slid out of the car, walking to the front door in silence. Once there, Kurt leaned against it and Blaine stood in front of him. A silence fell – they weren't sure how to say goodbye.

'So, um. I'll see you later this week?' Blaine asked, scratching the back of his head. Kurt nodded.

'Yeah, I mean, we're working together, so whenever you're there, I'll be there too,' he laughed lightly, 'at least I'll be able to get out of school for a few days this week.'

'You'll be getting out of school a lot soon enough,' Blaine told him, 'but uh… cool. I'll text you?'

Kurt smiled softly, 'okay.'

They fell silent again, and Blaine, not wanting to suffer through any more awkwardness, stepped forward and pulled Kurt into a tight hug.

'Thank you again for tonight. I hope we get to do it again sometime.'

'Me too,' Kurt agreed, unable to stop himself from smiling, 'goodnight, Blaine.'

'Goodnight Kurt.'

Blaine walked back to his car, and one he had started the engine and driven out of sight, Kurt let out a shaky breath and all but slid down the door.

'My god, I've got it _bad_,' he breathed, shaking his head to rid himself of the giddiness.

He unlocked the front door and was surprised to see his father was still awake in the living room, watching a football rerun on television. He was normally asleep at this time – it was nearing half past eleven.

'You're up late.' Kurt commented, peeling his jacket off.

'You're home late.' Burt retorted, though he didn't sound too mad. Either way, Kurt frowned.

'I'm sorry, dad,' he apologized, 'we got carried away with talking, and you know how long it takes to drive back here – especially at night, we had to drive slow and –'

'It's fine, Kurt,' Burt assured him, 'did you have a good time?'

The dopey smile made its way back onto Kurt's face and he nodded eagerly.

'I did,' he replied, 'Blaine is so… oh my god, dad.'

To say that Burt wasn't worried about Kurt's relationship with Blaine would have been a lie. He could tell that Kurt had a crush on the boy, but as far as he was concerned, Blaine was straight.

'Just be careful, Kurt, okay?' he warned. Kurt raised an eyebrow at him.

'Why? Blaine's a good guy. It's not like he –'

'No, I mean,' Burt sighed and chose his next words carefully, 'I mean, don't give your heart to someone who might not be able to give theirs back, okay? I'd hate to see him hurt you, kiddo.'

Kurt opened his mouth, presumably to make a snappy retort, but he closed it and seemed to actually think Burt's words over for a moment.

'Okay,' he nodded, agreeing for the sake of sparing them an argument, 'I'll be careful. But it's just a crush, dad. It'll pass. Being around him is just exciting.'

'Okay. Good. How was your day, anyway?'

'It was pretty fun,' Kurt smiled, perching on the arm of the couch, 'I had a disastrous music lesson and then sang songs with the costume designer. There wasn't much for us to do today but I did have a good time.'

He yawned then, realizing how tired he actually was.

'Why don't we talk about it all tomorrow and you get some sleep now?' Burt suggested, biting back his own yawn. It was late, and they'd both had long days.

'Yeah, that sounds good,' Kurt agreed, 'night, dad.'

'Goodnight, kiddo. Sleep well.'

Kurt smiled fleetingly at his father and left the room, heading for the stairs so that he could get down to his bedroom. A few moments later, the smile reappeared on his face and he couldn't seem to shake it away.

_Who cares if Blaine is straight_? he thought, recalling the way Blaine's arms had felt around him, _that doesn't mean I can't admire him. That's what fellow actors do, don't they? They appreciate each other. And I certainly appreciate Blaine._

And even then, Kurt was still highly suspicious of Blaine's behavior sometimes. He knew that Blaine was hiding something, and was very curious to find out what it was. He had a long time ahead of him for that, though, and he was far too tired to think, so he quickly got ready for bed and collapsed against his pillows. He fell asleep soon after, the smile still lingering on his lips.

* * *

**What is the deal with Blaine and Meredith? Man, they have a complicated past! **

**This was originally meant to be longer – and better – but I lost the original document and had to type this out quickly so I could put it up tonight. Next chapter will be up in the next 24 hours; and hopefully I won't have to write**_** that **_**one out twice. :P**

**Please let me know what you thought, and thank you guys so much for the birthday wishes! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and as always, thank you for reading. I love you all very much. See you in 24 hours! Take care! xx **


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Kurt noticed when he got to school on Monday was that everyone was looking at him differently. They weren't glaring at him, or making snide comments at him – and they weren't ignoring him either. Everyone looked rather… pleasant, and Kurt didn't know what had gotten into them all.

He ignored the looks and headed for his locker, turning the dial so that he could put away his satchel and get his books for first period. Almost at once, he was flocked by a group of cheerleaders.

'Kurt!' Carly grinned, twirling her auburn hair around her fingers. Kurt remembered her insulting him a few years ago, and then never speaking to him again. The attention was unsettling, 'how are you?'

'Um, good thank you.' Kurt replied hesitantly, shoving his satchel into his locker. Carly grinned.

'That's awesome! I totally love what you're wearing today. I've always loved your fashion sense,' she told him, the smile never leaving her face, 'it's totally out there.'

'So stylish,' Ashley added. She had dark hair and even darker eyes, but they seemed to sparkle at Kurt, who smiled nervously at them. Was this some sort of trick?

'Thank you.' Kurt replied, straightening his vest, 'I didn't think you'd noticed before.'

'Oh, we _totally_ noticed,' Carly assured him, and the girls around her nodded, 'we've always noticed; just never had a chance to say.'

'Alright… well, thank you,' Kurt repeated, shutting his locker, 'I have class now…'

'That's cool! We'll talk to you later, Kurt,' Carly winked, linking arms with Ashley and walking away. The other girls smiled at him as they walked away, and Kurt frowned after them.

He shook his head, brushing it off, and continued to class. As he walked into his maths class, another cheerleader waved him over.

'Kurt!' she exclaimed, grinning, 'I saved you a seat!'

Finn was in this class with him, so Kurt shook his head and smiled politely, gesturing to his stepbrother. She looked rather disappointed, but let it go. Kurt slid in the seat next to Finn.

'Why is everyone being really nice to me?' he asked him, sounding confused.

'Haven't you been reading anything?' Finn asked, and Kurt's frown deepened.

'You read?' he asked, and Finn rolled his eyes, pulling his phone out and tapping away on it.

'Look,' he handed the phone to Kurt, who scanned the screen quickly.

It was an article about Savior of Light, giving some details about the movie – what it was about, when it was rumoured to be released, and the cast list.

'_And starring opposite teenage heartthrob Blaine Anderson is a new boy on the movie scene – eighteen year old Kurt Hummel, from Lima, Ohio, who auditioned for the role amongst hundreds of boys and was rumoured to be singled out because of his extraordinary singing abilities and his apparently natural acting abilities. Kurt Hummel, who attends McKinley High School, seems to be adapting to the…'_

Kurt scanned the rest of the article quickly, his eyebrows rising into his hairline. He had no idea how this website knew where he attended school, or why he was chosen for the role, but suddenly the attention he was receiving from everyone today was becoming a little more understandable.

'There's like, dozens of these articles,' Finn explained, 'I'm surprised you haven't seen any of them. Everyone's getting really excited for the movie and I guess they're being nice because you're kind of famous now.'

Kurt frowned – he didn't want people to like him for his fame. Suddenly, he had a vague idea of how Blaine must have felt. The people around him had been nothing but cold and distant to him for years and if they thought that he would embrace them openly because of a few nice comments, they were sorely mistaken.

He resisted the urge to scroll through the rest of the articles, choosing instead to turn his attention to the board as his maths teacher walked into the room.

'Alright, class,' she announced, 'we'll just be continuing our book work today. Chapter four, please. Oh – Mr Hummel?'

Kurt looked up at her as she approached his table. She smiled at him.

'Don't worry about the work,' she told him quietly, 'I know you've got this work down and I know you're going to be busy with _other _projects soon, so you don't have to get this done any time soon.'

Kurt's mouth almost dropped open – Miss Marne had never been rude to him, but she'd never given him special treatment, either. He smiled softly at her.

'Actually, I'd rather do the work than sit here and do nothing,' Kurt replied, flipping his book open to the right page. She looked at him oddly for a moment, probably surprised that he had rejected the offer to skip work, but gave him a strained smile anyway and walked back to her desk.

'Wow, everyone's treating you like royalty,' Finn commented, sounding rather excited, 'that's really cool. But even though you're going to be a star – can you help me with my maths?'

Kurt smiled at the simplicity of his stepbrother and shifted his chair closer to Finn's so that he could be closer to work with him. They spent the lesson going over questions slowly; Finn took a little longer to grasp the formulas, but Kurt was patient with him and that's what Finn needed. He wasn't stupid, like most people assumed – he was just a little slow at times, especially with maths.

By the time lunch rolled around, Kurt had been approached and complimented by far too many people for his liking. The only people who seemed to be treating him the same were the members of his glee club; the rest of the school was doing nothing short of sucking up to him.

Some people outright asked him about Blaine; they asked for autographs and information about him. Others had apologized for being rude to him in the past.

He felt uncomfortable at the attention he was receiving – he was so used to being rejected by these people, he wasn't sure what to do. The fact that their kindness wasn't genuine made him feel, if possible, even worse about everything. If they only liked him because he was going to be in a film, he didn't really want to be around them at all. He felt a little hurt at how fake they were.

But the kindness was a lot better than the abuse, even if it wasn't because they actually liked him. He was glad that now he would have at least a bit of peace, and wouldn't have to worry about being abused every day.

His phone vibrated as he was sitting with his friends at lunch, and he was surprised to see that it was from Blaine.

_Saw some articles about you online Mr. Popularity! Hope you're enjoying your first day as a star!_

He smiled at the text and was about to text back when the phone was plucked from his hands.

'This from Blaine?' Rachel asked, staring at the screen, 'what a sweetheart.'

'He is, isn't he?' Kurt grinned, stealing the phone back, 'did I tell you he took me out to dinner?'

'No!' Rachel replied, sounding shocked, 'no you did not! When?'

'After we were done on Saturday,' Kurt told her, smiling at the memory, 'he took me to this cute Italian place and we talked _forever_.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' Rachel demanded, 'seriously, I demand to come with you next time you go on set or something. You're getting all these amazing opportunities and I'm stuck at boring old McKinley.'

Kurt knew that having Rachel around on set would probably make his time there infinitely more interesting, so he nodded, genuinely liking the idea. He had a feeling that even though Rachel was aiming for Broadway, she could – and probably would – weasel her way into the movie. No one could say no to Rachel Berry for long.

He tuned out to what she said after that, answering the occasional conversational text from Blaine. He was still in awe that he had received the role, and he knew that it would have a huge impact on his life. Already his world was changing. He couldn't wait to see what it would be like once the premier rolled around.

Kurt invited Rachel and Mercedes over his house later that night for a much needed sleepover. He was in desperate need of gossip, and there was no one i

* * *

n the world better to talk to than those two.

They were sat on his bed, a movie playing in the background, dressed in their pyjamas, handing around bowls of snacks.

'What's being on set like?' Rachel asked, leaning back against Kurt's pillows and staring up at the ceiling. Kurt shrugged, though she wasn't about to see it.

'Right now it's a bit boring,' he admitted, 'I haven't got much to do until the script actually comes in, and I don't know when that will be, so yeah, it's boring. There are a lot of people though, and they all seem busy enough.'

'It'll get interesting soon enough,' Mercedes assured him, 'and then you'll be all famous and busy and you'll forget about poor Mercedes and Rachel.'

Kurt gaped at her.

'Absolutely not!' he protested, 'I'd never forget about the two of you!'

His phone vibrated, displaying yet another message from Blaine.

_Script seems really interesting so far, don't you think?_

Kurt frowned at the screen. Rachel sat up and tried to t peer over Kurt's shoulder at the screen.

'What is it?' she asked.

'Blaine just asked me if I thought the script was interesting.' he replied, sounding confused, 'I didn't get a script.'

He told Blaine just that, and a few moments later Blaine had replied.

_They were mailed out like, last week I think. You should have gotten yours today._

'Apparently I should have mine by now.' Kurt announced, 'I'll be right back, I'm going to ask dad if I got anything in the mail today.'

He went upstairs quickly, shouting for his father as he went.

'Dad! Did I get anything in mail today?' he asked as he poked his head into the living room. There was a football game on television, and Burt's eyes were glued to the screen.

'Eh?' he grunted. Kurt rolled his eyes.

'Mail? For me? Did anything come today?' he asked slowly. Again, Burt didn't look away from the screen.

'Oh yeah. Package. I left it in the dining room for you.'

Kurt rolled his eyes again and left his father to his game, practically running for the dining room. Sure enough, there was a package on the table, addressed to him. He wasted no time in tearing the paper off of it, and once he had removed all of it, there was a large script, with _Savior of Light _typed onto the front, along with the names of the directors.

Kurt's eyes lit up at the sight of it, and he hurried back downstairs with it.

'Look!' he exclaimed, tossing it onto the bed, 'the script!'

'Ooh!' Rachel picked it up and flicked through it, 'it's so_ long_. Look – all your lines are highlighted for you!'

'How convenient!' Mercedes commented, taking the script off Rachel and looking through it, 'boy, you're going to have some serious remembering to do.'

She handed the script over to Kurt, who flicked through the pages slowly, waiting for anything to jump out and grab his attention. He figured he could read through it properly tomorrow night and just skim through it with the girls tonight.

He kept rifling through the pages, and the word _kiss _jumped out at him. He froze on the page, looking at the directions for that scene.

_[Oliver kisses Cameron passionately.]_

He stared at the words and then flicked back to the front of the script where it told him who was playing who. He was Cameron, apparently, making Blaine Oliver.

Meaning Blaine had to kiss Kurt passionately.

He felt his stomach twist as he reread the words. Of course, he knew that there would be something like that in the film, but seeing it scripted made him feel nervous beyond comprehension.

'What are you staring at?' Rachel asked, pulling the script away from him. Kurt made to grab it back, but she moved it out of his grasp and her eyes quickly found what Kurt had been staring at.

'Ooh, this is good,' she grinned, and Kurt glared at her, '_Oliver kisses Cameron passionately.' _

'What?' Mercedes squawked, practically throwing herself across Kurt to look at the script, 'where!'

'Right there!' Rachel pointed, standing up and dropping the script. She walked around the bed to where Kurt was and took his hand.

'Oh, _Cameron_,' she gasped, holding Kurt's hand to her chest dramatically, 'I am just so _in love_ with you. I can't imagine my world without you!'

She dropped his hand and clasped a hand to her forehead, sinking to her knees.

'Why, even the thought of you makes me go weak at the knees!' she proclaimed, and Mercedes giggled. Kurt rolled his eyes at her.

'You're insane.' he told her bluntly, and she winked at him.

'You won't be saying that when Blaine's saying that to you.' she retorted.

'Those aren't even the lines.' Kurt frowned, scanning through the script again, 'aw. That's actually really sweet.'

'What is?' Mercedes asked.

'Basically Oliver is telling Cameron that he doesn't care if he's dying and if losing him will inevitably hurt him in the long run; he just wants what time they have left to be spent together because he doesn't want to miss out on what could be the best thing to happen to him. _Then _they kiss.'

'That is sweet.' Rachel agreed, climbing back on the bed, 'I can picture the scene in my head. What would make it better, though, is if I sang in the background. You know, something really heart wrenching like On_ My Own._'

'Yeah, not going to happen Rachel.' Kurt laughed, and then pulled his phone out to text Blaine.

_Found mine! Seems pretty great to me!_

Sure, he might not have actually read the script from the start yet, but from what he'd read, it was going to be pretty good.

_I know right! I'm so excited to start filming; it's going to be amazing!_

Kurt smiled at the text and then set his phone aside, putting the script in the middle of the bed so that the three of them could read over it together.

Rachel and Mercedes seemed pretty impressed with it, and Kurt was falling in love with his character. He seemed so broken, but there was a lot of fight left in him, and even being denied a transplant he still managed to make the most of what time he had left. The relationship he had with Oliver was slightly complex, but as the script progressed, they fell into a natural, easy friendship, and then teetered into something more, though it was precarious and uncertain.

He couldn't wait to actually start filming – as each day passed, the feeling of excitement in the pit of his stomach would grow larger and larger, and he thought it would engulf him completely before long.

Especially now that he knew that, straight or not, he would be kissing Blaine Anderson, and if that wasn't something to get excited about, he didn't know what was.

* * *

**I think Kurt is the male version of me – a total fangirl. That means that there's some of Kurt in all of us! **

**Not much Blaine in this chapter, but I thought it was important to show how people started treating Kurt after he got the role – some people can be so fake sometimes. **

**Next chapter will, as always, be tomorrow. Sorry this one is so short. I didn't start it until really late and it's already quarter to four here and yeah, I'm sorry! Next one will be longer!**

**Also, has anyone listened to Christina Grimmie before? Total girl crush right now. She's incredible. **

**Please let me know what you thought. See you guys tomorrow! :) **


	8. Chapter 8

Kurt's first day of shooting came later on that week, on Friday.

To say that he was nervous would be a complete understatement – he didn't know how he would look on camera, or if he'd even be any good or not. But he was at Dalton – where some of the scenes would be shot – and was being bossed around, sent to the makeup artist so that they could apply what seemed like kilos of makeup to his face; he hated it, and could practically hear his skin screaming for freedom from the makeup. They did his hair in a very boring way – it was flat as opposed to his usual coif. Dalton classes were running as normal that day, but the students were on strict instruction to not bother or interrupt the directors or actors in any way so that Blaine and Kurt's characters could be blended in with the rest of them. For that reason, Ryan had stuffed Kurt into one of Dalton's standard uniforms – the white button up shirt, tan slacks, blue and red tie and a navy blue blazer. Kurt wasn't a huge fan of the uniform, but he did think the blazer suited him nicely. Not to mention Blaine looked absolutely amazing in his uniform; he wore it like it was an extension of himself, but then again, Blaine had gone to Dalton Academy before his career took off. He just looked comfortable in it.

Kurt had spent the past few days trying to learn his lines. He knew that it wouldn't be that huge of a deal if he forgot some of them; it wasn't like he was performing it live – he knew it could be chopped and changed and there would be people to prompt him if need be, but he wanted the directors – Simon in particular, whom he had grown reasonably fond of – to be impressed with his attitude towards his role.

'Alright boys,' Simon addressed them, 'you two have never met before in your lives, right? You're being put together for this assignment and you don't know anything about the other. Oliver, you're curious because you've gone here since the start of your high school career and you've never seen him before. Cameron is sick and shy and peaky-looking and you want to know what he's about, right?'

'Right.' Blaine nodded, taking the direction into consideration. There were boys about them, looking busy, to give the impression that they were in a classroom. A lot of the Dalton boys had been hired as extras because they'd been so eager to do it. All day Simon had boys pester him to be put into the film, and after a while, Simon had relented; it was cheaper – free, actually – to have them play roles rather than actually hiring people.

The teacher was 'assigning' people into pairs. They were in History, apparently, and they were studying the French Revolution.

'Oliver Jacobson and Cameron Whitt.' she called out, and Blaine turned to look at Kurt from his seat at the front of the classroom. They'd put Kurt in the back, and Kurt made sure to avoid eye contact with him.

Blaine stood up and walked to the back of the classroom, a camera following him. He slid into the seat next to Kurt's after the boy next to him had moved away to join his 'partner'.

'Hello,' Blaine smiled, 'I'm Oliver.'

'Cameron.' Kurt replied, sounding disinterested. Blaine frowned slightly.

Kurt's makeup had been done to make him look pale and haggard. He had bags under his eyes and his lips were dry. Kurt, who generally avoided looking bad at all costs, could only imagine how horrible he looked right now; especially next to Blaine, who seemed to be glowing next to him.

'So, um,' Blaine continued, looking slightly uncomfortable. Kurt had to admire the way he could portray emotion so easily; his eyes gave everything, 'history assignment. Sounds boring, huh?'

Kurt, who remembered he had to be sickly and generally distant from those around him, shrugged. Blaine bit his lip and appeared to make a final attempt at speaking to Kurt.

'Okay… well, we should meet in the library after classes to research.' Blaine suggested, 'if that's okay with you, I mean.'

Kurt nodded, and Blaine nodded in return slowly, looking slightly more uncomfortable than before. He drummed his fingers on the table and silence followed.

'Alright then. Well, I'll see you then.' Blaine told him, and Kurt glanced at him momentarily before looking back down at the sheet in front of him. Blaine sighed and rolled his eyes and stood up, walking back to the front of the class to where his things were.

'Alright, cut, that's fine,' Simon called, and Blaine turned around and flashed Kurt a genuine smile and a thumbs up.

'See?' he grinned, raising his voice to be heard over the talking in the room, 'easy as pie.'

Kurt knew that as this was only one small, small scene in what would be possibly months of filming, so he only smiled weakly in return.

'I want to do the library part,' Simon told them, flicking through the script, 'but then again I also want to get one of the kiss scenes out of the way before we do anything else. They take a lot of time.'

Kurt seemed to pale even more under his make up at the thought of kissing Blaine so soon – he hadn't mentally prepared himself for it. Blaine didn't seem fazed at all, on the other hand, and Simon scratched his head.

'But that won't really work because you two need to build on your chemistry.' he mused, 'so not that one.'

Kurt held back a sigh of relief and Simon looked up from the script.

'It's better if we just do the school scenes now.' he decided, 'because we're going to have to move around sets a lot and we don't have time to dawdle. Alright, guys, we're going to set up in the library, so meet us there in half an hour. Blaine, you should be fine getting there – just show Kurt where he needs to go, okay?'

Blaine nodded and stood up, gesturing for Kurt to follow him. Kurt was surprised at how relaxed the filming was, but as the film still didn't have a release date, he figured that the schedule wouldn't be so tight.

'Are you enjoying yourself?' Blaine asked once they'd made it into the corridor. Kurt nodded.

'It's pretty fun,' he replied, 'not as hard as I thought it would be.'

'You've got natural talent,' Blaine told him, smiling, 'so of course it won't be. But it'll be harder once we get to the emotional parts. You'll get attached to the script and you're going to be feeling a _lot _when it comes down to those scenes. Especially in this film, there are a lot of heavy topics.'

Kurt had to agree with that, and they walked down the corridors in a content silence. Kurt loved how comfortable he felt around Blaine already – he wasn't intimidated by his high status because Blaine acted just like anyone else he'd met. He admired him for being able to keep such a level head with that amount of fame.

As they turned a corner, Kurt could hear the sound of distant singing. He turned his head, looking around interestedly for the source of the sound. It sounded like more than one person – perhaps a group, like a choir. Blaine, on the other hand, stopped in his tracks.

'No way!' he breathed, 'I can't believe I've forgotten!'

'Forgotten what?' Kurt asked. Blaine appeared to know something about the singing, because a second later he grabbed Kurt's hand and began pulling him down the hallway.

'The Warblers!' he babbled excitedly, 'I forgot that they practiced during the study break on Fridays! I haven't seen any of them in forever, oh my god!'

'The Warblers?' Kurt repeated, allowing Blaine to half-drag him down the corridor, 'I didn't know you were in the choir.'

'It's not a choir,' Blaine told him, 'it's an acapella singing group. I used to help them with songs and arrangements, and sometimes I would sing with them! But we're all really good friends and I miss them!'

They came to a door, which Kurt recognized as the door to the room his audition had been held with. Without any hesitation, Blaine pushed the door open, dropping Kurt's hand in the process, which Kurt sorely regretted, and stepped inside the room.

A group of about a dozen boys stopped in their tracks as Blaine walked in. There was a silence, before they exploded into shouts at once.

Blaine grinned as he was enveloped by a few of the boys, who had pulled him into a fiercely tight group hug.

'Well if it isn't Blaine fucking Anderson!' a tall, dark skinned boy exclaimed, punching Blaine's shoulder softly.

'Are you filming here?' an Asian boy asked, looking excited, 'as one of us?'

'I am!' Blaine replied. He couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face, and Kurt hung in the background, feeling slightly awkward at the obviously happy reunion.

'I forgot how hard you rocked the blazer.' a boy commented. He was tall, but slightly chubby, with nicely styled hair and a bright gleam in his eyes. Blaine grinned at him.

'Thank you, Trent. It feels good to be back in it,' he replied, 'I feel like one of you again!'

'Always our favourite honorary Warbler,' the Asian grinned, clapping him on the shoulder, 'I haven't seen you in so long, man.'

'I've missed you, Wes,' Blaine told him, hugging the boy again. Wes hugged him back hard, patting him on the back a few times.

Blaine pulled away after a moment and seemed to remember Kurt, who stood in the doorway awkwardly. He seized Kurt gently by the upper arm and pulled him into view.

'If I may – this is Kurt Hummel, my new co-star,' he told them, and Kurt smiled meekly, feeling a little shy at being scrutinized by a dozen other boys, 'guys, honestly, you should hear him sing. If he went to Dalton, the Warblers would be the best show choir in the country, trust me.'

Kurt flushed lightly at the comment, and the boys before him began to introduce themselves. Wes stuck out, as he had learnt his name sooner than the others, as did David, the dark skinned one. Two boys named Nick and Jeff were also memorable – partly because their hands had been intertwined throughout the whole introduction, and every so often they would glance at each other with a fond expression on their faces.

Eventually, Blaine and Kurt had relocated to a couch, and the boys had taken to standing or sitting around them, asking them questions about the upcoming film. Blaine gave them a brief synopsis on the plot, and they all seemed really interested.

'I think it's a great idea,' Nick commented, leaning his head on Jeff's shoulder, 'I mean, there are bigots out there who would really deny people those things just because of their beliefs. It's good that you're spreading the message.'

'But you, playing a gay character?' David frowned, tilting his head, 'I can't see it.'

'Well, you could certainly see it when you and I were in love,' Blaine proclaimed dramatically, though Kurt spun to face him wildly. He sounded completely serious.

'Oh, Blaine,' David shook his head, and a few boys around him sniggered, 'you are so naïve. I can't believe you're still hung up over us.'

Blaine narrowed his eyes at David, but a moment later he smiled, and Kurt realized that they were joking and some tension in his chest seemed to dissipate. David laughed and changed the topic.

'How's life in the limelight anyway?' he asked, and Blaine shrugged.

'I'm sure you've read all about it on the internet,' Blaine rolled his eyes, 'but yeah, it's alright. I miss school though.'

'As if you would miss dull old Dalton,' Wes scoffed, 'it must be amazing, being able to live out your dream.'

'Acting was never my dream,' Blaine reminded him, 'music was.'

'But you mentioned that you're singing on the soundtrack,' Trent spoke up, 'so maybe if that works out okay, you can record an album.'

'Maybe.' Blaine shrugged, but he sounded wistful.

'Well, maybe you should sing with us now,' a boy named Ethan suggested, 'Nick's been singing lead a lot lately but I'm sure he won't mind letting you have a solo.'

'Of course not,' Nick grinned, 'we missed having you sing with us. It's been so, so long.'

'Oh, I don't know…' Blaine replied, biting his lip, 'you guys must have gotten so much better since we last sung together. We probably won't sound the same.'

'Come on, Blaine!' Wes whined, 'please? Please?'

Blaine looked hesitant, and Kurt nudged him. From what he sounded, the Warblers were really quite talented and he would love to hear them sing.

'Do it.' he ordered, 'I want to hear. You've heard me sing so many times already and I've heard a song and a line from you.'

He looked at Blaine expectantly, and after a moment Blaine agreed.

'_Fine_,' he relented, to which he was met with excited whoops, 'but _only _because I miss you and Kurt will probably not let me sleep tonight from the guilt trip he'll take me on.'

Kurt smiled smugly, and Ethan, who was sitting next to Kurt, patted him on the back appreciatively.

'We've been working on _Teenage Dream_,' Nick told him, 'you know how our arrangements work. You can improvise.'

'Though nothing will beat the _When I Get You Alone _spectacular a few years ago,' David commented with a wink in Blaine's direction, who flushed. Kurt made a note to interrogate him about whatever that meant later.

'_Teenage Dream_, huh?' Blaine repeated, ignoring David's comment. He looked thoughtful for a moment, 'I guess we could try.'

'Oh, you'll be fine,' Wes assured him, clapping his hands together, 'my gavel is on the table so I basically have no authority right now, but everyone, get into positions like we practiced. Blaine, you know how to lead.'

They moved to the open space in the middle of the room and Blaine took his position in front of the rest, who arranged themselves behind him. He looked slightly nervous, his fingers tapping against his leg expectantly.

'Alright. One… two… three…' Wes counted quietly, and on the fourth count – which he didn't say, but waved his hand to compensate, the group exploded in a perfectly synchronized set of vocals.

Some of them made some sort of 'dun' sound, and Trent began to beat box from the back of his group. Wes looked pointedly at Blaine, who shrugged and began to sing.

_You think I'm pretty,_

_Without any makeup on,_

_You think I'm funny,_

_When I tell the punch line wrong_

_I know you get me, _

_So I let my walls come down,_

_Down,_

Kurt had no idea how long it had been since Blaine had sung with the Warblers, but their voices blended together seamlessly. Not only was Blaine doing a fantastic job of improvising, the rest of the group were perfectly in sync, as though they were all connected telepathically. They were perfectly on pitch, and Kurt found himself growing a little envious of them as they continued. They began to 'ooh' and 'ah' behind Blaine, who was concentrating on staying in tune with the rest of them.

_Before you met me,_

_I was alright,_

_But things were kind of heavy,_

_You brought me to life,_

_Now every February,_

_You'll be my Valentine,_

_Valentine,_

As he finished the verse, Wes nudged him and made a point of starting a very simple two step, which the other boys copied automatically. Blaine watched for a moment, and then, seeming to remember, began to follow Wes' lead. His performance seemed safe – careful almost, but he was still fantastic. Kurt watched them, unable to keep the smile off his face. It was nothing short of adorable, and he rested his chin in his hands from where he sat on the couch.

_Let's go all,_

_The way tonight,_

_No regrets,_

_Just love,_

_We can dance,_

_Until we die,_

_You and I,_

_Will be young forever._

And it was then that Blaine seemed to click with the rest of them, becoming more confident in what he was doing. His voice was growing stronger, and more sure, and by the end of the verse, the chorus had almost exploded from his chest.

_You make me,_

_Feel like I'm living a,_

_Teenage dream,_

_The way you turn me on,_

_I can't sleep,_

_Let's run away and don't ever look back,_

They spun around, perfectly in sync, even Blaine, and then at once seemed to go off and do their own thing, each dancing in their own way but still managing to look connected. Blaine, for the first time during the song, made eye contact with Kurt and, still singing, made his way over to him and pulled him off the couch, taking his hands in his and spinning him around. Kurt began to smile stupidly as he danced with Blaine, who seemed to be having the time of his life. He dragged Kurt back to where the rest of the group was.

_My heart stops,_

_When you look at me,_

_Just one touch,_

_Now baby I believe,_

_This is real,_

_So take a chance and don't ever look back,_

_Don't ever look back._

Blaine winked at Kurt and released him, and Kurt stepped back as Blaine fell back into the two step with the rest of the Warblers as the next verse began.

_We drove to Cali, _

_And got drunk on the beach,_

_Got a motel and,_

_Built a fort out of sheets,_

_I finally found you, _

_My missing puzzle piece,_

_I'm complete._

He stopped for a moment, as did the others, and counted the beats on his fingers, before going back into the two step.

_Let's go all,_

_The way tonight,_

_No regrets,_

_Just love,_

_We can dance,_

_Until we die, _

_You and I,_

_Will be young forever_

Again, they started dancing by themselves again, except for Blaine, who took Kurt's hand again, and Kurt, unable to help himself, belted out the chorus with Blaine as they spun each other around.

_You make me,_

_Feel like I'm living a,_

_Teenage dream,_

_The way you turn me on,_

_I can't sleep,_

_Let's run away and don't ever look back,_

Blaine clapped a hand over his heart dramatically and looked directly at Kurt as he sang the next lines. Kurt knew that he was probably just kidding around, but his own heart began to thud in his chest, so hard that he was surprised Blaine couldn't hear it over his singing.

_My heart stops,_

_When you look at me,_

_Just one touch,_

_Now baby I believe,_

_This is real,_

_So take a chance and don't ever look back,_

Blaine winked at him again, and Kurt wasn't sure how he was still standing on two feet at this point.

_I'ma get your heart racing _

_In my skin tight jeans_

_Be your teenage dream tonight,_

_Let you put your hands on me,_

_In my skin tight jeans,_

_Be your teenage dream tonight_

The Warblers fell back from backing vocals to oohing again, and Blaine closed his eyes and nodded his head along to the beat, before he took a deep breath and belted the rest of the song, seeming more focused on the singing now than dancing with Kurt, who honestly didn't mind. When Blaine had finished, and the song drew to a close, the entire group – including Kurt – burst into a thunderous applause and cheered.

'That was amazing!' Wes commented, practically tackling Blaine with a hug, 'you were amazing! You've improved so much!'

'I can't believe how much I've missed singing with you guys,' Blaine replied, 'that was exhilarating. You are all the pinnacle of talent, I swear.'

'Shucks, Blainers,' Nick laughed, clapping him on the back, 'it was so, _so _good to sing with you again. You give me a run for my money, I say.'

Blaine laughed and from the other side of the room, a loud vibrating could be heard.

Blaine patted his pockets and realized his phone was missing.

'Fuck.' he muttered under his breath, and then crossed the room quickly and picking his phone up and answering it. The rest of them could hear only Blaine's side of the conversation, but from what they could hear, Blaine sounded pretty intimidated.

'Oh hey, Si- what? ... No, we're in the choir roo- … I guess we must have lost track of - … well I'm _sorry_ … _yes, _I understand … _alright, _shit, calm down, we're on our wa – … give us a few minutes, _shit_! You know the choir room isn't far. Alright. Fine. Yeah, bye.'

'Someone's in trouble!' a boy named Cameron singsonged, and Blaine glared at him.

'Yeah, well, we have to go,' he told them, 'if you guys are still here after we're filming, I'll come and see you guys, if that's okay.'

'Of course it is!' Trent assured him, and the rest of the group nodded, 'we all still board, we'll be here!'

'Well, maybe not _here_,' Nick corrected, 'but same dorms man, you know where to find us.'

'It was really nice meeting you, Kurt,' David added, smiling at Kurt, and there were murmurs of agreement from the Warblers. Kurt, who was still somewhat flustered from the song, smiled back.

'You too,' he replied, 'all of you. You're all so crazily talented.'

Jeff grinned and bowed slightly, 'we do try.'

'Alright, come on, Kurt. Simon might be nice in general but he is scary when he's mad.'

Kurt joined Blaine at the door and Blaine waved at his friend a final time before shutting the door behind them.

'Well, let's hope we survive this lecture!' Blaine commented, sounding hopeful, 'I hope he isn't too mad at us.'

Kurt was slightly nervous at what Simon would do to them, but he couldn't focus on it fully after what had just happened. Blaine had just held his hand, sung to him and danced with him – a very suggestive song, might he add. Blaine didn't seem to think it was a big deal, but Kurt felt a lot just through that song, and he didn't really understand Blaine's angle. If he was straight, he shouldn't be doing things like this to Kurt. Because Kurt could feel his feelings for the boy getting stronger with every little act of kindness.

Blaine took his hand again casually, probably to lead him to the library quicker, and Kurt bit back a sigh. He considered tugging his hand away from Blaine's for a moment, but he didn't want to feel rude, or cause any discomfort between them.

But he did know that in the library scene, the distance he had to have towards Blaine wouldn't be an act.

* * *

**Sorry for skipping an update yesterday – I feel lousy of late and I just had no inspiration, but I hope this makes up for it in some way.**

**Silly Blaine, making poor Kurt feel all these things and then doing nothing about it. Shame on him. Shame! But all hope is not lost for our boys.**

**Well… hopefully not. ;) I won't be one to give things away.**

**So, did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Banish me from writing ever again if you feel it's necessary, but do let me know how you felt about this chapter, because your feedback does help. And leave suggestions or ideas or anything; I usually do take them into consideration when writing.**

**Speaking of ideas, props to Vanessa for always giving me an idea of what to write about. Bless her. **

**See you tomorrow, guys! **


	9. Chapter 9

If Kurt had thought filming was easy before, he was sorely mistaken.

After they had found Simon, who had sat them down and all but talked their ears off about schedules and punctuality and responsibility, they jumped straight into the library scene.

Kurt realized that he would probably remember this script word for word for the rest of his life from the amount of times he had to repeat the lines. They made them do it over and over again, catching the same scene from different angles, scenes with the windows open, with the windows shut. Someone sneezed behind them and they had to reshoot it. Another time, the Dalton boys in the library at the time were speaking too loudly and they had to film it _again_.

And even then, they were apparently now on a schedule. A few hours ago, the atmosphere was so much more relaxed, and now everyone was tense and irritable. They were rushed from the library to film a scene in which Kurt was on the phone to his doctor, and Kurt had to experience the awkwardness of his first solo scene. He had to improvise the conversation; he wasn't told when to start and stop talking so he tried to make it seem as realistic as he could. Even then, he was made to shoot it over and over – sometimes sitting on the bed of his apparent dorm room, sometimes sitting in the desk chair, or standing by the window. Kurt was becoming tired, and slightly embarrassed at the crew staring at him.

'Do we want to do the scene where Cameron tells Oliver about his sickness now or tomorrow?' Simon asked after the eight take of the scene.

'They have acting lessons in half an hour,' a woman reminded him, flicking through a planner, 'and then after that they have another singing lesson.'

'Alright, Kurt, you have to go to the third floor – there will be a young man waiting for you on the staircase so that you don't get lost. Blaine, yours is in the choir room, you know how to get there.'

Blaine decided to walk Kurt to the staircase, which was completely unnecessary in Kurt's opinion. He was still a little annoyed at Blaine – having to be so distant towards him during filming certainly hadn't helped the situation. But Blaine didn't notice that Kurt wasn't overly happy with him, and chattered aimlessly about the film until they reached the staircase.

Just as they did, his pocket vibrated and he saw a text from Rachel.

_I'm coming to see you after school is finished. I don't care if I'm not allowed to._

He chuckled at the text and looked up to see Blaine still waiting for him. Kurt raised an eyebrow – in what he thought was a polite way – at him.

'Did you maybe want to hang out after we're done today?' Blaine asked. Kurt resisted to urge to roll his eyes. Again with the plans. He didn't see why Blaine wanted to hang out with him so much anyway. It's not like it helped that Kurt had feelings for him – did Blaine not see it? It wasn't fair.

'Um… well, Rachel's stopping by.' Kurt replied with an apologetic shrug, and Blaine's face fell slightly, 'so I'm not sure if I can or not.'

'That's fine,' Blaine assured him, the smile sliding back on his face, 'maybe next time. See you later, Kurt.'

With that, he walked in the opposite direction to the choir room. Kurt stared after him for a moment before shaking his head and exhaling before making his way upstairs.

At the top of the staircase there stood a man, just as Simon said there would be. He was leaning against the banister, looking slightly bored. However, when he saw Kurt, he stood up, looking suddenly interested.

Kurt resisted the urge to let his eyes rake over the man because he was absolutely _stunning_. He was around his height, with perfectly styled brown hair and blue eyes that seemed to stare right into him. He had a smirk on his face, and he stuck out his hand when Kurt reached the top of the staircase.

'You must be Kurt Hummel. I'm Sebastian Smythe, your acting coach,' he told him, and Kurt grasped his hand for a brief moment and tried not to look like an idiot.

'Um, yeah,' he replied, and then kicked himself internally for being so shy, 'it's nice to meet you.'

'The pleasure is all mine,' Sebastian assured him, 'shall we get started?'

Kurt nodded and Sebastian led him to an unused classroom, where the tabled had been pushed back against the wall so that there was a large, empty space in the centre. Sebastian stood there, and clapped his hands, motioning for Kurt to sit on one of the desks.

'So, in a film like yours, there are two emotions you're going to have to learn to portray very well,' he started, 'I read through your script and I think I've got it. Because these two emotions are _base emotions _as we'll call them, you can mutate them and express them in different ways to achieve different effects. Does that make sense?'

Kurt nodded slowly, and Sebastian smiled widely.

'Good!' he clapped his hands, 'now, the first of those two emotions would be grief.

'Grief can come in many forms. _You _are dying. And you can't do anything about it. Throughout the movie, you're going to be passively depressed. I mean, when you and Oliver begin building your relationship, you'll get better, of course. But there's still going to be that air of sadness.'

Kurt raised his eyebrow. Of course he was going to be sad – he was dying. He just wanted to know how he was going to get that across onscreen.

Sebastian looked down for a moment, and when he looked back up he looked tired. He looked tired, but not in a physical way – he looked emotionally drained. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes were glassy, as though he were a second away from bursting into tears. The corners of his mouth were turned down enough to make him seem torn. Kurt folded his arms across his chest and nodded in approval – he was pretty impressive. If he hadn't known any different, he would have probably asked him if he was okay.

'See – grief.' Sebastian grinned and in a second the sadness was replaced by an expression of smugness, 'so what you have to do is close your eyes.'

Kurt closed his eyes and a few moments later he felt Sebastian grab his arms gently and then pull him to the centre of the room.

'So now, think of the saddest thing that has ever happened to you.'

Kurt's mind automatically snapped to the death of his mother and he felt a little tug at his heart.

'How did that make you feel?'

'Broken.' Kurt whispered, and the memory of her death began to flood his mind.

'Now, let that fill you up. Let it take over you.'

Kurt began to feel tears prick at the corner of his eyes and his breathing became more laboured. When he opened his eyes, he saw Sebastian looking appreciative.

'Not bad, Hummel,' Sebastian commented, 'not bad at all. If that is like, just there on the back of your mind when you're filming, even if you're distracted by something else you're still going to have something there to weigh you down.'

If there was anything Kurt didn't want to do, it was constantly have the memory of his mother dying on his mind. He figured that if there was something less traumatising he could use that.

But it actually worked, and he was surprised that it did. He was impressed with Sebastian's methods, even if they did depress him.

'If you can't do that,' Sebastian continued, 'they have eye drops that will make you look sad at the very least. Just… be your character. You're not Kurt Hummel from the moment you walk through the front door. You are Cameron, and Cameron doesn't have much to smile about. If you're acting sad around here, explain why and people will get it and they'll play along with it. I know I used to do it before I was in a play or something. Just _become _the character. Remember to use all of your body to portray it; slump your shoulders, fiddle with your clothes, just try and look defeated.'

'Right,' Kurt nodded, 'I can understand that.'

'See, it's not that hard.' a moment later and Sebastian had the same lost expression on his face, 'practice, of course. Practice to your friends, and your parents, and whoever. Even to Simon, he'll love it.'

'Okay… so what's the other emotion?' Kurt asked.

'You've just found someone to love. Someone who will be there for you through everything.' Sebastian explained, 'and it's new to you. It's something completely unexpected. So.'

And of all things, Sebastian wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist and drew him closer. Kurt's heart began to race in his chest and Sebastian's other arm trailer up Kurt's.

'You've got to seduce the _hell _out of him.'

He released Kurt and Kurt was slightly taken aback, though thoroughly flustered. Sebastian smirked at him, knowing what he'd done, and looked pleased with himself.

'Like that.'

'Right,' Kurt raised his eyebrow at him, 'why do I have to seduce him? We're acting.'

'Because if there's no chemistry between you two, it'll look fake and rehearsed onscreen,' Sebastian replied, 'if you can catch him by surprise a little, then you're obviously going to have something there.'

'Blaine is straight.' Kurt told him, 'I don't know if you're aware of that, but he's not into guys. So I can't exactly _seduce _him.'

'Sure you can!' Sebastian grinned, 'you can do anything if you do it right.'

Kurt looked sceptical and Sebastian rolled his eyes at him.

'Come on, it took me like three seconds to get a reaction out of you.'

Kurt, who wasn't exactly confident with seducing others, simply stared at Sebastian. Eventually, Sebastian sighed.

'What's bothering you?' he asked, 'are you not comfortable doing it?'

'I've never done it before,' Kurt admitted, 'actually, this whole scene is worrying me. I don't know what to do.'

Sebastian looked at Kurt critically for a moment, and Kurt felt decidedly stupid.

'You're gay, right?' Sebastian asked, and Kurt nodded slightly. Sebastian grinned, 'don't worry, I am too. Have you ever kissed a boy?'

He was more reluctant to nod this time, and the smile Sebastian gave him was sympathetic.

'There's nothing wrong with that,' he assured him, 'if you'd like… I could help you practice the scene. To get you more comfortable with it, you know? I mean, if the first time you kiss someone it's on camera, of course it'll reflect within your acting.'

Kurt honestly wouldn't have minded having his first kiss with someone as attractive as Sebastian Smythe, but the whole situation made him nervous. What if he was an awful kisser?

Of course, he hoped his first kiss would be with someone he really cares about, but he figured that he would have to do it at some point or another, so he nodded and shrugged. Sebastian looked at him with a small smile on his face.

'You're adorable,' he commented, and Kurt blushed faintly, 'it's just a kiss. Don't be nervous. Do you have a script with you?'

Kurt shook his head, and Sebastian shrugged.

'Let's just improvise,' he suggested, 'you be Cameron and I'll be Oliver.'

'S-sure,' Kurt agreed, his heart beating oddly in his chest. Sebastian inhaled and then looked at Kurt.

'Cameron…' Sebastian started, stepping forward and taking Kurt's hand, 'I don't care how sick you are. I don't care how hard this is going to be. I'm not going to leave you.'

Kurt stepped back and said the first thing that came to his mind, 'but you can't, Oliver. In the end, I'm going to die anyways - and where will that leave you? You're going to get hurt.'

'But you're worth it!' Sebastian told him urgently, 'I don't _care _how much this is going to hurt in the end. I don't care about any of it. I just want you. And everything we have. Even if this kills _me _in the end – I'm not letting you go.'

With that, he wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist, much as he had done before, and drew him closer, his eyes falling to Kurt's lips. Kurt couldn't even stop himself as he tilted his head up slightly, and Sebastian leaned in and –

'Hey, Kurt!'

Kurt and Sebastian jumped apart to see Blaine standing at the door. He looked a little embarrassed, but somehow determined.

'Hi, Blaine,' Kurt replied, his heart hammering in his chest from the shock of Blaine's unexpected arrival.

'Just letting you know that we have a singing lesson soon,' he told him sweetly, 'and it's in the same place as usual.'

'Actually, we should be wrapping up here,' Sebastian added, running his hand through his hair, looking as surprised as Kurt, 'I'll see you when I see you, Kurt.'

'Right. Um, thanks for your help.'

Sebastian gave him a small smile and left the room, and Kurt watched him walk away. When he was out of sight, he sighed.

'So… you two looked busy.' Blaine commented, stepping into the room. Kurt raised his eyebrows at him.

'Actually, we were just trying to practice.'

'For the kissing scene?' Blaine asked, and Kurt nodded, 'well, it doesn't make much sense to practice _that _with _him.'_

'What do you mean?' Kurt asked, walking over to Blaine. He figured that as Blaine was here, they might as well walk down to their lesson together.

'Well, you're not going to be kissing him in the end,' Blaine explained. Kurt could tell he was trying to sound offhand, but there was an emotion in his voice he couldn't exactly place, 'so if you wanted to practice that, you should ask me. Because… well… we're going to need to make it believable and that normally takes _practice _so like… yeah. Didn't have to go to Sebastian.'

'I'll keep that in mind.' Kurt told him, and they set off together. There Blaine went with his ambiguity again. If Kurt didn't know any better, he would think Blaine _wanted _to kiss him.

But Blaine was straight, so that wouldn't be possible. Not while Kurt was a boy.

* * *

_I've got to stop talking so much._

Blaine mentally kicked himself for his little ramble earlier. He wasn't even into boys – why was he practically demanding Kurt practice his kissing scene with him?

_You like girls, Blaine. Kurt is not a girl. Sure, you're excited to be working with him, but you've got to control yourself. He might get the wrong idea about you. Don't want to lead him on or something – he's such a nice guy, he does _not _deserve that._

There was a tiny part of Blaine's brain that protested, that said maybe he _did _want to kiss Kurt, but he quickly shoved it back down. He didn't need those thoughts again. He barely got rid of them the first time around.

* * *

Meredith was her usual, bitchy self when Kurt and Blaine walked into their practice room.

'You're late,' she snapped, her eyes lingering on Blaine as they walked in. He rolled his eyes at her.

'We're five minutes early,' Kurt corrected, dropping his satchel onto the floor. She sighed irritably, and Kurt felt his phone go off in his pocket.

_I'm here! I got past everyone. I think they think I work here. I'm in the main hall. Where are you?_

It was Rachel, and Kurt smiled before texting back.

_I'll come get you. Stay put!_

'I uh, have errands to run,' Kurt told Meredith and Blaine, who looked confused, 'I'll be back in like five minutes.'

He left the room quickly and went to find Rachel. He had become pretty good at making his way around Dalton, and it didn't take him long to find Rachel, who was looking around interestedly. She hugged him when she saw him and he dropped a kiss on her temple.

'How's filming?' she asked him, sounding excited, 'this looks so cool!'

'It's good!' Kurt replied, 'and tiring, and this whole thing is a little confusing but come with me, I have a singing lesson. I'll fill you in on everything later!'

He all but dragged Rachel back to the music room, where they found Blaine and Meredith arguing in low voices. They stopped as soon as Rachel and Kurt came in, and Meredith glared at them.

'You know, I don't get paid to wait for you as you traipse around the school,' she reminded him, and then sneered when she saw Rachel, 'and I _certainly _don't get paid to teach your talentless little friends how to sing, so _she _can leave.'

Rachel opened her mouth, looking affronted, and Kurt clapped his hand over her mouth.

'Yeah, well, you might just be surprised,' he told Meredith, and moved to stand next to the piano, 'what are we learning today?'

'We're going to try teach Blaine how to sing on key and try make you sound like you don't have oestrogen pumping through your body.' Meredith replied sweetly, and Kurt's face fell flat. He didn't understand how someone could be so rude.

'Excuse me?' Rachel spoke up from where she was standing near the door, 'Kurt has an amazing voice. He doesn't sound like a woman. I know guys who would_ kill _to sing like him.'

'I don't care about your delusional little friends,' Meredith retorted, waving her hand in apparent nonchalance, 'I'm here to teach these two how to sing.'

'Are you even qualified?' Rachel demanded, walking over to stand next to Kurt and placing her hands on her hips.

'Of course I'm _qualified_.' Meredith demanded, her eyes narrowing, 'who are you to question that?'

'Someone who is probably a _lot _better than you.' Rachel replied, her voice dripping with attitude. Meredith's hands went to her hips, and now the two girls were mirroring stances from across the piano. Blaine sat on the bench, looking moderately intimidated, but Kurt looked eager. He knew that something was going to come of this.

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah.' Rachel folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow and smirked, as though she was challenging Meredith. Meredith scoffed.

'I'd like to see that. Really.'

'Then I'll show you.' Rachel told her, 'Don't Rain on My Parade?'

Meredith scoffed, 'I could sing it in my sleep.'

Rachel's eyes narrowed then – Don't Rain on My Parade was _her_ song. Barbra was her territory. She would die before she let some tramp try and outsing her.

'Shall I go first?' Rachel asked, taking her jacket off and dropping it to the floor.

'Be my guest.' Meredith replied, smirking.

Rachel opened her mouth to sing, but Kurt interrupted quickly.

'Hang on, hang on!' he cried, flipping through his phone. A moment later, the backing track of the song began to play.

'Proceed.' he smiled, and Rachel flashed him a grin.

_Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter,_

_Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter,_

_Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade,_

Blaine's eyes widened. He began to wonder if everyone in Kurt's school was ridiculously talented. Rachel held more ability in her little finger than Meredith had in her whole body.

However Meredith took over now, and Kurt and Blaine almost cringed at the difference in skill. Meredith had a good voice, but it was thin and reedy and definitely _not _suited to this song.

_Don't tell me not to fly, I simply got to,_

_If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you!_

_Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?_

Rachel almost laughed at her and sang the next lines with ease, knowing that she had already won before they'd even started.

_I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drum,_

_And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir,_

_At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir,_

_I guess, I didn't make it._

Meredith took the next few lines and Blaine groaned and clamped his hands over his ears, and Kurt giggled. Rachel smiled at him and the two girls sung in unison.

Meredith stalked out from behind the piano and her and Rachel began to really _sing_, throwing everything into the song, but maintaining a fierce eye contact. Kurt went and sat next to Blaine on the piano, and they both looked on in great interest.

Blaine looked as though he would fall off the piano bench with the force of Rachel's voice, but Kurt, who had heard her sing this song so many times before, simply smiled at her proudly. She was absolutely killing Meredith, who was desperately trying to upstage her.

_I'm gonna live, and live now,_

_Get what I want, I know how,_

_One roll for the whole shebang, _

_One throw that bell will go clang_

_Eye on the target and wham, _

_One shot, one gun shot and bam!_

_Hey, Mr. Arnstein, here I am!_

It had become a contest of who could sing the loudest apparently, with each girl's voice echoing off the walls. Kurt wondered if everyone else in the school could hear it as well as they could. They still shot each other fierce looks, and Kurt laughed at the fact that Meredith thought she could challenge _Rachel Berry _to Barbra and win. Even though he'd never heard Meredith sing before this day, he knew he wouldn't have stood a chance. No one could do Barbra justice as well as Rachel Berry could.

At that moment, Simon popped his head through the door and slipped into the room quietly, unnoticed by the girls. It was nearing the end of the song, and Meredith stood forward to take the last verse before Rachel shoved her out of the way and shut her eyes and belted out the lyrics.

_I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drum,_

_And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir,_

_At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir,_

_I guess, I didn't make it._

_Get ready for me love, cause I'm a comer,_

_I simply gotta march,_

_My heart's a drummer,_

_Nobody, no, nobody_

_Is gonna rain on my parade_

She finished and Blaine, Kurt _and _Simon all burst into huge applause. Rachel grinned at Kurt and Blaine, not having noticed Simon yet, and took a bow.

'Thank you, thank you,' she bowed once more and then shot a smug look at Meredith, 'and _that _is how you sing Barbra.'

'Damn _straight _it is!' Simon exclaimed, and Rachel spun around to look at him, looking shocked.

'Thank you!' she sounded rather breathless now, but quickly regained her composure, 'I bet you regret not letting me audition now!'

Simon laughed and nodded, 'you bet I do. But I was thinking – I could have another use for you.'

Rachel's eyes lit up.

'What could that be?' she asked, sounding excited.

'Maybe you could record a song for the soundtrack?' he suggested, 'we would write it all, of course. You would only have to sing it. We'd pay you! It would be a great start if you were pursuing a career in the music industry.'

Rachel hesitated for a moment.

'I feel like it would be selling out,' she told him after a moment, 'Broadway is my dream, not Hollywood.'

Simon looked contemplative.

'Well… you never know. We _could _write it in a more theatrical style for you,' he mused, 'if that would suit you better.'

Rachel looked as though she would burst out of her skin with excitement but she nodded calmly.

'That sounds nice,' she told him, and Simon smiled, 'I'll have to think about it.'

'I'll be in touch,' Simon replied, and the winked at Meredith, 'maybe you could learn something from this girl.'

He left, and Meredith rounded on Rachel, looking outraged.

'How dare you make me look bad in front of my boss?' she seethed. Rachel shrugged, looking unfazed.

'How dare you challenge me to Barbra?' she replied, before picking her jacket up off the floor, 'I'm going to go explore, Kurt. Bye guys!'

She left and Meredith marched back over to the piano, instructing Kurt and Blaine to go over scales before pulling her phone out and texting for the better part of the hour, looking up only to criticize them or make a snarky retort. Kurt and Blaine were eager to get out of the room, and once she had dismissed them they all but ran to the door.

'She's insane,' Blaine shook his head once they were clear of the room, 'she is just _insane_.'

'How you dated her, I'll never know.' Kurt commented and Blaine laughed bitterly.

'Neither do I,' Blaine replied, sighing dramatically, 'I guess it's alright now though, I've moved on to bigger and better things.'

He winked at Kurt, who felt his heart skip in his chest.

'So um, are you still busy with Rachel or do you want to hang out?' Blaine asked, scratching the back of his head. Kurt looked thoughtful for a moment.

'Well… I guess,' Kurt replied, smiling, 'I mean, if you're not opposed to Rachel hanging out with us, then sure.'

'I'm not opposed to that at all.' Blaine smiled, 'that sounds like fun, actually.'

'Cool.' Kurt replied, grinning, 'if you can deal with her crazy, that is.'

'She's amazing!' Blaine exclaimed, 'she is so talented. Why are you guys all so talented?'

'We're in glee club,' Kurt replied, 'it's not a coincidence. There aren't many people in our school who can sing so we kind of just group together.'

'Well even so, I'd kill to be able to sing like you guys.' Blaine told him, and Kurt scoffed.

'Don't be ridiculous. You're amazing, too.' Kurt assured him, patting his shoulder. Blaine caught his hand on the way down and held it, smiling at him.

'Thanks.'

They walked around in silence for a while, hands still joined. Eventually, Blaine turned to Kurt.

'So, when are we going to rehearse that scene?'

Kurt knew exactly what _that _scene was, and he felt his stomach churn at the prospect of kissing Blaine.

'If I didn't know any better, I'd say you _wanted _to kiss me, Blaine,' Kurt teased, proud of his own daring. Blaine looked stunned for a split second, but regained his composure quickly.

'Oh, of course,' he grinned, 'night and noon, that's all I think about.'

Kurt chuckled, but it was bitter. Blaine was still acting annoying – he was holding his hand, for heaven's sake, for no reason whatsoever, and still denying feeling anything towards him. He was determined to unravel the mystery of Blaine Anderson. Starting with finding out exactly what his sexual preferences were, because right now, he hardly seemed straight. At least not to Kurt, but then again, he was acting very flirty to him.

He'd never been good at picking up hints, but this was far too obvious to him. Either Blaine was an asshole, or there was something between them. And he very much hoped it was the latter.

* * *

**I'm sorry about the inconsistency of my updates, I have a **_**lot **_**to study for but I would much rather write this, so never fear, I'll never miss more than a day! **

**Let me know what you think, please! And there was a reviewer who I got the idea of Sebastian off. I don't know exactly who it was, but they will hopefully when they read this, but thank you so much! I loved the idea! **

**Love you guys!**


	10. Chapter 10

Kurt and Blaine parted ways after a while, with Kurt going to find Rachel and Blaine going to find his bag. He thought he left it in the library somewhere, so he headed off in that direction.

As he reached the door, he noticed Simon was sitting at one of the tables, going over paperwork. There weren't many students in there; it was after school hours, and on a Friday night, too, so Blaine figured they would be out to visit their family or just avoiding their homework.

'Oh, hey Blaine,' Simon greeted him, looking up from his paperwork. Blaine smiled at him and Simon waved him over, 'come, sit.'

Blaine sat down across from Simon, who flicked through a few pages of his paperwork and signed his name at the bottom of the sheet with a flourish. He set down his pen and smiled at Blaine.

'So, how do you feel being back on the scene?' he asked. Blaine shrugged.

'It's fun, I guess,' he replied, 'it gets repetitive after a while, but I'm really enjoying this script and the people I'm working with.'

'I can tell you like the people you're working with,' Simon winked, and Blaine cocked his head to the side, looking confused. Simon noticed the confusion and he sighed, folding his arms on the table, 'is there anything going on between you and a certain member of our cast?'

Blaine felt his heart sink in his chest and he shook his head, 'I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.'

Simon sighed and rolled his eyes, but changed the subject.

'Alright. What are your plans for tonight?' Simon asked, and Blaine looked hesitant to answer.

'I'm hanging out with Kurt,' he replied slowly, 'and Rachel! Rachel, too.'

'Oh my god, Blaine, are you serious?' Simon snapped, sounding exasperated. Blaine seemed to shrink back in his seat slightly from the force of Simon's tone. Simon closed his eyes and exhaled, trying to control his temper, 'I'm sorry. But come on, Blaine. Do you seriously think I'm stupid?'

'What are you talking about?' Blaine demanded.

'You and Kurt,' Simon replied, speaking slowly as though he was addressing a child, 'the fact that you hold his hand, and you obviously _flirt _with him, and then blow him off like you don't mean anything by it.'

'But I don't mean anything by it.' Blaine told him, though he could feel his cheeks starting to burn. He'd known Simon for a long time, and he knew that the man could see through him at this point.

Simon let out a long breath and buried his face in his hands.

'Blaine, if you don't mean anything by it,' he started, lifting his head, 'then you have to stop doing it.'

'I'm not _doing _anything.' Blaine narrowed his eyes, 'I'm not gay, Simon.'

Simon bit his lip and stared at the table for a second, choosing his words carefully.

'Blaine, look,' he began, and he ran his fingers through his hair, 'okay. Okay. Are you telling me that after last time you haven't had feelings for a boy? Ever?'

Blaine's face flushed and he ducked his head, 'I thought that 'last time' was something we didn't talk about anymore.'

'When are you going to understand that what happened wasn't a bad thing?' Simon asked him softly. Blaine looked up at him, and his eyes were wet.

'It almost ruined everything.'

'No, _Meredith _almost ruined everything,' Simon reminded him, 'and she's a cow. There was nothing wrong with what happened.'

'But that's just not _me_,' Blaine groaned, 'I like girls.'

'Do you, Blaine?' Simon asked gravely, and Blaine hesitated.

'I do,' he replied, 'I mean, I – _yes. _Yes, I do.'

'But… do you like Kurt?' Simon asked, leaning back in his chair. Blaine opened his mouth to deny it, but the words lodged in his throat.

'Um…' he stammered, 'I – I – I just. I don't –'

'It's okay if you do,' Simon assured him gently, 'you know that I'm not going to judge you, of all people. I just think that there's an explanation to your behaviour towards him and it might not be completely platonic.'

'He's a great guy,' Blaine admitted, 'he is a _really_ great guy. He's so talented, and he's kind and he's just… he's great. And I'm… intrigued by him.'

'Intrigued.' Simon nodded slowly, 'okay. I can accept that.'

'I – I mean, it's not like last time,' Blaine continued, his cheeks still burning, 'I'm not like in love with him or anything. I – I don't know if I've fully realized it, but I'm _drawn_ to him.'

'And that's okay.' Simon assured him, sounding rather emotional, 'Blaine, that's okay.

'But is it?' Blaine asked weakly, and the tears in his eyes became more pronounced, 'is it really? I can't accept it, you know I can't.'

'You did once.'

'But then I threw it away!' Blaine exclaimed, and he stood up from his seat in exasperation, 'I threw all of it away because I couldn't accept it!'

'It was all M-' Simon started, but Blaine cut him off.

'It wasn't Meredith.' he interrupted, his chest heaving, 'not everything was Meredith. She contributed, sure, but it wasn't Meredith. It was me, too.'

'So are you saying it would have fallen apart if it weren't for Meredith?' Simon asked, and Blaine bit his lip.

'I just can't do it.' he told him quietly, 'I should be going, anyway.'

He turned to leave but Simon cleared his throat.

'Blaine, if you're having feelings towards Kurt, we're all going to support you. No one will judge you.'

'No one?' Blaine repeated, sounding incredulous, 'no one except the entire world, who expect me to be straight. What about my parents?'

'Your parents?' Simon raised an eyebrow, 'you don't even see your parents.'

'Not by choice.' Blaine scoffed, 'I've already disappointed them enough. They didn't want me to get into film, remember? It was doctor this and lawyer that, and now that I'm doing this, they've practically written me out of their will. What if I was gay? They'd never speak to me again. Just once I'd like to be invited home for Christmas, Simon. I can't do this.'

Simon looked at him sadly for a moment before standing up and walking around the table before hugging Blaine tightly. Blaine returned the hug after a moment, practically clinging onto Simon.

'You'll be okay.' Simon promised, 'I know this is shit but you're going to get through it, alright? Don't be afraid to be yourself. Everyone will be cool with it, if you are gay.'

'I'm not.' Blaine mumbled against his chest, but it was quiet and unsure. Simon clapped him on the back and released him.

'Alright, Blaine, you're not.' he agreed, 'now go out and have some fun, alright? Try not to think about it.'

Blaine smiled weakly at him and said his goodbyes, Simon's words weighing heavily on his mind. There was something there, with Kurt. He wouldn't be so… _attracted _to him if there wasn't.

But that didn't mean the thought didn't absolutely terrify him.

* * *

'Guys, I hate to be rude, but I don't think I can come out with you tonight.'

Kurt raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she smiled.

'Quinn just texted me.' she explained, 'she needs some, uh, _assistance._ So I've got to get back to Lima.'

Kurt's eyes widened, and Blaine simply looked confused.

'Assistance?' he repeated, 'you? Quinn Fabray?'

'Us girls gotta stick together,' Rachel winked, leaning up to kiss Kurt on the cheek and giving Blaine a very brief, fleeting hug, 'I'll see you tomorrow. Hope you guys have fun tonight!'

With that, she was off, and Kurt stared after her in wonder.

'Was that weird?' Blaine asked after a moment, 'I feel like that was weird.'

'Oh, I _know_ that was weird. Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray…' Kurt snorted, 'actually, I'll explain later. What do you want to do?'

'Well, I thought we could go out to dinner or something…' Blaine started, 'but then I had a very… exhausting talk with Simon, and now all I want to do is get drunk.'

'Drunk?' Kurt repeated, smirking, 'Blaine Anderson, an alcoholic?'

'Absolutely,' Blaine winked, 'but what do you say? We can spend the night in my old dorm – they gave it to me while we film here so that I don't have to commute back and forth all the time, seeing as I don't go to school properly or anything.'

'Your old dorm, eh?' Kurt mused, 'what am I meant to tell my parents? Hey, dad! I've decided to stay at Dalton to engage in some underage drinking with a teen celebrity! See you tomorrow!'

'No,' Blaine laughed, 'just tell him that for convenience purposes you're going to be sleeping in one of the spare rooms at Dalton because we've got a busy day tomorrow.'

'Won't acting with a hangover suck?'

'We can get coffee and McDonald's in the morning,' Blaine assured him, 'you'll be fine. I mean, only if you want to drink, of course. We could do something else.'

'No, no that's fine,' Kurt replied, 'I mean, I've only been drunk a few times before and one of those times involved me throwing up on the guidance councillor, but apart from that, it's pretty fun.'

'Cool.' Blaine grinned, 'it pays to be close to the older crew members… they don't mind buying you stuff to drink.'

'I suppose you'd need it occasionally with all the stress.' Kurt reasoned, 'so, where's your dorm?'

* * *

'Alright, so, I think we should order pizza.' Blaine proposed from where he was lying on his bed. His head was dangling off the edge, making his face turn slightly red, 'the gates close at eleven on weekends, so if we want to get anything, we should do it now.'

'I dunno, Blaine,' Kurt frowned. He was sat on the desk chair, flicking through his phone. They hadn't started drinking anything yet – it was still a little early, so they were making idle conversation, 'pizza tonight and McDonald's in the morning? I don't think my skin could take it. Or my waistline.'

'You're kidding?' Blaine laughed, rolling onto his stomach, 'both your skin and your waistline are flawless. A night of junk food won't do anything to ruin that.'

Kurt felt himself flush slightly at the compliment, and it was enough to convince him to order pizza. An hour later, after spending far too long deciding, they had a large vegetarian and a large meatlovers pizza sitting on the desk, and Kurt and Blaine were on the floor, leaning against the bed.

'Do you want something to drink?' Blaine asked, standing and walking over to the closet. Kurt nodded, and a moment later Blaine tossed him a bourbon and Coke. Not exactly his most favourite thing to drink – he preferred fruity cocktails, but he cracked the top open and took a sip from it anyway.

'Alcohol is horrible,' Blaine commented, sitting on the desk chair and taking a long drink, 'but it does the job.'

'Do you drink often?' Kurt asked, taking another sip. Blaine shrugged.

'Not exactly. Only when there's something _really _bothering me. I haven't in about a year.'

'That's good, I suppose.'

'So, tell me about Rachel and Quinn?' Blaine requested, moving to sit on the floor. Kurt was already starting to feel the effects of the alcohol.

'Well, Rachel is… Rachel.' Kurt started, 'she was never really popular. She's a little… obnoxious. And full on. I adore her; of course, her attitude is going to get her so far, even if it is annoying. Anyway, Quinn is head cheerleader and probably the most popular, prettiest girl in our school. And she _hated _Rachel. Caller her names, threw slushies at her, drew pornographic pictures of her in the bathroom… that sort of stuff. Then some huge debacle happened over Finn; Quinn's boyfriend, who Rachel 'stole' from her. After that, their rivalry got worse. And now… I don't even know what's going on with them but I don't like the sound of Rachel going to _assist _Quinn Fabray. I mean, she's nice enough, but I don't see how that would work at all.'

Blaine looked thoughtful, and took another drink before answering, 'well. If they're happy together, they're happy together. What can you do about it?'

'That's… true.' Kurt agreed, taking a long sip from his can and draining about half at once. He didn't need images of whatever Rachel and Quinn were doing in his head, and he was grateful for the alcohol in his hand.

They finished their first cans, and moved onto their second, and then the third. Kurt's head was fuzzy, and both boys were getting quite giggly.

'So, so, you have to tell me,' Kurt requested, 'w-what happened with you and uh, and Meredith?'

'Oh,' Blaine let out a chuckle, 'I – I can't tell you about… that.'

'Aw, why?' Kurt whined, 'you – you gotta tell me. We're friends, aren't we?'

'Well, yeah!' Blaine grinned, 'of course we are. Alright, why not?'

Kurt scooted closer to Blaine, who drained the rest of the drink and reached for another.

'Right well, it was a little over a year ago,' Blaine started, with the air of a great storyteller, 'and I was working on some small side projects and – and I met this boy. And basically, I fell sort of in love with him.'

Kurt gasped dramatically, and Blaine nodded, looking sombre.

'I know, I know, crazy, right? Anyway, he was like… the best. His name was D-Daniel and we had this huge thing.' Blaine explained, his words slurred slightly, '_but_! That was while I was with _Meredith_.'

'No way!' Kurt exclaimed, sculling the rest of his drink. His head was spinning and his vision was beginning to blur, but he knew that he would remember everything Blaine said in the morning.

'So Meredith and I had this whole big relationship for the cameras,' Blaine continued, 'b-but behind the cameras, it was me and Daniel. It was always Daniel. But I was so _scared_. I was really hesitant with him. We – we didn't _sleep_ together or anything, but the one time we _almost _did, M-Meredith caught us.'

Kurt gasped again, genuinely shocked. Blaine sighed shakily and went on.

'Before w-we could react, she took photos,' he told Kurt, who even in his inebriated state could appreciate how terrible that must have been, 'and then she tried t-to blackmail me with the photos. It got into this _huge_ thing and Simon got involved and she almost got f-fired, but in the end one of the crew members got into her phone and deleted the photos. She didn't know, so I ended whatever fake… _thing _we had going on and – and she went to post the photos online, but they were gone. S-she hadn't made copies of them. So all she had were stories but seeing as we'd j-just broken up, no one would have believed her anyway.'

'What h-happened to you and Daniel?' Kurt asked softly, moving forward a little bit so that their knees were touching. Blaine shrugged.

'I couldn't handle what had happened so I – I broke it off.' he replied. He didn't sound too upset by it, 'I'm over it now, but – but at the time I was pretty upset. But I ended it and have never really looked at another guy s-since. Sort of. Well, m-maybe recently, but that's a different story.'

'I'm sorry a-about what happened.' Kurt told him, trying to sound sincere with the alcohol pumping through him. And he did feel sorry for Blaine. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like to go through that. His dislike for the woman dropped immensely.

'It's o-okay,' Blaine assured him, and then smiled, 'but I _could _use a hug. If that's okay?'

Kurt grinned at him and leaned forward to hug him, but lost his balance and crashed into Blaine's arms. They started giggling madly.

'Ouch,' Kurt laughed, rubbing his head from where it had hit Blaine's, 'sorry, I'm a little off balance.'

'That's okay,' Blaine singsonged, laughing, 'happens to the best of us.'

They struggled to a sitting position, Kurt still half on top of Blaine.

'So, do you miss D-Daniel?' he asked. He felt a little pang of jealousy but on top of everything, he wanted to hear the story. At least now he knew that Blaine was _not _entirely straight.

'I… no,' Blaine replied honestly, shaking his head, 'not at all. I… okay, this is going to sound s-silly, but I miss being with a _boy_.'

'Really?' Kurt asked, making himself comfortable on Blaine's lap, 'w-what about boys?'

'J-just holding one,' Blaine replied, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and nuzzling his face into Kurt's neck, 'and kissing them.'

'Kissing them?'

'Have you ever kissed anyone, Kurt?' Blaine asked, 'you s-seemed awful nervous about the kissing scene in the movie.'

'I haven't kissed anyone before,' Kurt admitted, and he blushed a little, 's-so Sebastian was gonna so that I was m-more comfortable in the movie.'

Blaine fell silent and looked as though he was thinking hard about something.

'Well, kissing isn't hard,' Blaine told Kurt, smiling at him, 'I could teach you. R-right now.'

'Now?' Kurt repeated, sounding a little nervous. Blaine shifted beneath him so that they were facing each other. Kurt grabbed Blaine's drink and took a sip to steady himself.

'No time like the present!' Blaine replied, his eyes lighting up, 'I mean, if you wanna. If you don't, that's totally fine.'

'No… I…' Kurt hesitated, but then took a deep breath and smiled, 'why not?'

Blaine smiled at him softly, unwrapping one arm from around Kurt's waist to cup his cheek gently. Kurt could barely register anything as Blaine leaned in slowly. Kurt's eyes fluttered shut, and an inch before their lips touched, Blaine seemed to lose balance and he missed Kurt's mouth completely, kissing him on the chin.

Kurt burst out laughing, and Blaine looked mortified.

'Happens to the best of us!' Kurt repeated Blaine's words from earlier, and Blaine blushed furiously.

'That has _never _ha-happened to me before.' he told Kurt, 'wow. Embarrassing!'

'M-maybe we can try when we're s-sober.' Kurt suggested, 'so you don't m-miss.'

Blaine nodded shyly and Kurt climbed off Blaine's lap, taking Blaine's hand instead. They spent the rest of their night eating the now-cold pizza and drinking the rest of their alcohol, chatting about their pasts and their past relationships – this was a rather one sided conversation; Kurt listened as Blaine prattled on about his ex-girlfriends and romantic interests. Kurt shared the rather embarrassing tale of his crush on his now stepbrother, Finn, which made Blaine tear up with laughter.

Eventually though, they both grew tired and decided to sleep so that they wouldn't feel as bad in the morning. Blaine climbed up onto the bed and patted the spot next to him.

'You can sleep here, too,' he smiled sleepily, 'it'll be like a sleepover!'

Kurt hauled himself into the bed and Blaine wrapped and arm around his waist, pulling him close.

'I haven't had a friend like you in a long, long time, Kurt,' Blaine whispered, and Kurt smiled, 'you're the greatest.'

'So are you, Blaine,' Kurt replied, 'I'm glad you were so honest with me tonight.'

'Me too.'

Blaine kissed the top of Kurt's head and soon enough they had fallen into a peaceful sleep, wrapped around each other. However, the peace wouldn't last for very much longer, as Kurt would find out the next day.

* * *

**Aaaand there you have it; an explanation of Blaine's actions towards Kurt! I hated writing Blaine as such a… meanie, but it was necessary, and hopefully you guys understand why he acts the way he does. Poor lamb, he's just confused. :(**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter; please leave me a review (if you want, of course, no pressure) telling me what you thought about it, and as always, I'll see you guys tomorrow!**


	11. Chapter 11

When Kurt woke the next morning, the spot beside him was empty, but the bed was still slightly warm. The sun streaming through the blinds was far too harsh, and his head throbbed with a splitting headache. He sat up, wondering where Blaine had gotten to, and his mind wandered back to the previous night. He remembered most of Blaine's confession – now that he was sober, he could process it fully and he was absolutely shocked at what Blaine had told him. He also remembered almost kissing him, and his stomach churned. He was slightly relieved that his first kiss hadn't happened while he was drunk, but he was also a little disappointed that nothing had happened.

He tried to remember what it had felt like to fall asleep in Blaine's arms, but the memory was far too hazy. He sat up slowly and rubbed at his eyes to try and clear his head, before deciding to go have a shower.

He'd always been an early riser, even when he had been drinking, so it was still well before he was due to film anything. He took his time in the shower and tried to scrub the effects of the alcohol and junk food off of his skin, a little annoyed that even in the end he looked pale and tired. He didn't bother with his hair, knowing it would be taken care of in makeup later, and dressed casually before setting off to find someone.

He stumbled slightly, his head still hurting, and decided to go find some breakfast – usually there was coffee and some sort of food lying around, so he figured he could at least eat something to settle his stomach. At least a coffee.

The halls were quiet – the boys who had stayed in the school for the weekend were more than likely still asleep, it was still before eight, and the crew were milling around lazily, still fatigued by the early morning.

Kurt found a coffee machine on a table near the choir room, where he figured they would be shooting next, so he grabbed a styrofoam cup and filled it to the brim with coffee. It was the cheap kind, but he couldn't be bothered driving to a coffee shop – and he wasn't about to complain; it was coffee, and that's what he needed.

'Hey.'

Kurt turned around and saw Blaine standing behind him, smiling. His hair was slightly dishevelled and he looked tired, but still handsome as ever and Kurt smiled back.

'Hey. How's your head?' he asked, taking another sip of his coffee. Blaine stepped over to the table to get his own coffee and shrugged.

'I've had worse,' he replied, 'some coffee and I'll be fine, I think. What about you?'

'My head hurts a bit.' Kurt told him, 'but I do need this coffee, otherwise I think I'll explode.'

'Not the best coffee I've ever had.' Blaine commented, wrinkling his nose as he took a sip, 'but definitely what we need right now.'

'Absolutely,' Kurt agreed, 'so, um… I had fun last night.'

'I think I did, too,' Blaine laughed, 'I don't remember that much of it, to be honest.'

'What do you remember?' Kurt asked carefully. He didn't want to bring up anything Blaine didn't remember and potentially make him angry.

'I remember drinking a lot,' Blaine grinned, 'uh, I remember us talking, and then you fell over, and then _I _missed your lips when I tried to kiss you – I don't understand why that happened, but whatever, alcohol does crazy things – and then I remember crashing.'

'Oh, alright.' Kurt nodded, 'yeah. Yeah, I remember more or less the same.'

'But it was good.' Blaine remarked, 'really fun. So we should do it again sometime?'

'Sure.' Kurt smiled.

They set off together to find Simon, who they had to meet at some point anyway, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Kurt was contemplating asking him about Daniel, to maybe get some more information while Blaine was sober, but something was holding him back. He knew that bringing up the issue of someone's sexuality could be very precarious; especially if they weren't out, like Blaine. But Blaine insisted that he wasn't gay, and maybe he wasn't _gay_, but he was definitely _not_ straight.

'So um…' Kurt started hesitantly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, 'about Daniel…'

Blaine stopped in his tracks and looked at Kurt incredulously.

'Daniel?' he repeated, 'um… Daniel. Who's Daniel?'

His voice was careful, and Kurt felt as though he was _daring _him to elaborate. He took a deep breath.

'Daniel. That guy you were seeing, and then Meredith got involved?' he continued slowly. Kurt noticed that the hand Blaine was holding his coffee with began to shake.

'How – how do you know about Daniel?' he asked. Kurt looked confused.

'You were telling me about him last night,' Kurt replied, 'you told me the whole story. I remember it vaguely.'

'You weren't meant to find out about that.'

The words were said with such venom that Kurt's mouth almost dropped open.

'What do you mean? You're the one who told me about it.'

'_I_ told you about it?' Blaine repeated, 'you're the one who got me drunk!'

'Why are you getting so defensive about it?' Kurt demanded, crossing his arms across his chest as best as he could while still holding his coffee, '_you _asked me to drink with you. _You _told me the story. I didn't force it out of you.'

'Why would I tell _you_ about it?' Blaine spat. Kurt's eyes widened.

'Maybe because we're _friends_, Blaine, and friends are _honest _with each other.' Kurt replied, now narrowing his eyes.

'I barely know you!' Blaine exclaimed, 'that is _personal_ shit!'

'And what, telling someone who is _gay _about your sexuality doubts is bad?' Kurt snapped, 'I could _help _you, Blaine.'

'There's nothing to help, Kurt,' Blaine retorted, 'I'm not gay.'

'Really?' Kurt scoffed, and he felt tears pricking at his eyes, '_really_? So you took me out to dinner, held my hand, tried to kiss me and made me fall asleep next to you and you're _not _attracted to men? Not to mention that you had a _boyfriend _a _year_ ago?'

'Why would you use that against me?' Blaine shouted, taking a step towards Kurt, 'who does that? And you think we're friends?'

'Maybe I'm just sick of you leading me on!' Kurt cried, the tears now clouding his vision. As they continued yelling at each other, Simon and one of the cameramen peaked around a nearby doorway at the sound of the ruckus in the hallway.

'Is that scripted?' Simon asked curiously as the cameraman flipped through the script, 'I swear that isn't scripted.'

'I… no, it isn't.' the cameraman replied, looking confused, 'are they fighting?'

'I… I think so.' Simon bit his lip, 'but about what?'

They tuned back into Kurt and Blaine's fight, which was growing more intense with every passing second.

'It's not my fault you're in love with me or something! It's pathetic!' Blaine snapped, and Kurt's mouth dropped open.

'Excuse me?' Kurt's voice grew deathly quiet, and a hush fell over the hall. Blaine seemed to realize what he had said, and he opened his mouth, probably to apologize, but Kurt continued before he could, 'no, Blaine, I _admired_because you were a good actor and a good guy. Well, I thought you were. But now it's pretty obvious that you're just as conceited as the rest of Hollywood, which is really a shame, because I thought you were different.'

Blaine looked guilty, and again tried to speak, but Kurt wasn't done yet.

'And I'm sorry that you can't accept who you really are, because you are definitely _not _straight. And I don't get why you're lying to yourself when it's clear that no one will think any different of you. I thought you were at least brave enough to do that, but it's obvious that you're too caught up in what people want you to do rather than what you _should _do. So I hope that works out for you one day.'

'Kurt –'

'No, Blaine, don't.' Kurt sighed, and wiped at his eyes, 'don't. I get it. Just remember that _you _were the one who thought they could be honest with me and _you _were the one who _clearly _needed to get something off their chest. I could have helped. I really could have. But now, I don't think I want to bother.'

He stalked off in one direction and the icy silence fell back in the hallway. After a few moments, Blaine let out a frustrated growl and threw his cup of coffee at the wall, walking off in the other direction.

Simon stared after them, dumbfounded, as did the cameraman. Simon let out a shaky sigh.

'Oh, boy,' he breathed, rubbing his eyes, 'this isn't good.'

'Not at all.' the cameraman agreed, 'that was awful to watch. Awful.'

'Should I find Kurt or Blaine?' Simon asked. The cameraman looked thoughtful for a moment.

'Blaine,' he replied after some consideration, 'Kurt will probably call one of his friends and he'll probably want to be alone for a while. Blaine usually relies on you for advice, so go find him. He'll probably be in the choir room.'

Simon nodded. The cameraman was right – Blaine wasn't the most stable person when he was angry, and he didn't want him doing something stupid. The coffee that was spilt across the floor was evidence of that already.

* * *

When Simon came near the choir room, he heard the piano inside being played beautifully – but forcefully. It was as though someone was slamming down against the keys, playing something incredibly heart wrenching.

Simon pushed the door open and sure enough, Blaine was taking his frustrations out on the piano, stopping ever few moments to jot something down on a piece of sheet music in front of him.

'What are you playing?' Simon asked nonchalantly. Blaine sighed and looked up at him.

'Creating.' he replied gruffly, slamming down on the keys again. Simon stepped further into the room and watched him, a look of concern on his face.

When Blaine stopped again to write whatever he had been playing down, Simon cleared his throat.

'So um, I had the misfortune of seeing yours and Kurt's fight earlier,' he told him, and Blaine head snapped up, 'what was that about, buddy?'

'Kurt is stupid.' Blaine replied childishly, 'he says stupid things and makes me angry.'

'Actually, champ, it sounded to me like you said something stupid to him, too.'

The best approach to getting Blaine to admit he'd done something wrong was with a gentle tone and a lot of encouragement. Blaine sighed.

'I guess I did,' he agreed, 'but he just took me by surprise, asking about Daniel. We don't talk about that, do we?'

'Apparently we do,' Simon replied hesitantly, 'because it's been coming up in conversation a lot lately. Maybe it needs to be talked about.'

'I don't _want _to talk about it.' Blaine told him, turning back to the keys of the piano. Simon sighed and stepped over to Blaine, sliding down next to him on the bench and placing his hands over Blaine's to stop him from playing.

'You're killing my creative buzz.' Blaine muttered.

'You'll survive.' Simon shrugged, 'Blaine, seriously. Do you have feelings for Kurt?'

Blaine was very silent for a moment, and he kept his gaze down. Eventually, he shrugged.

'Perhaps a little bit.' he admitted, 'I don't know about right now though, because I'm pretty angry.'

'I know you're angry.' Simon replied, 'but think about it from Kurt's perspective, too. You kind of were flirting with him and that must have hurt him, whether he likes you back or not. Do you get what I'm saying?'

Blaine nodded, slowly realizing what he had done wrong. He exhaled slowly.

'I guess I should apologize, right?'

'Right.' Simon nodded, feeling proud of Blaine's progress, 'but not right now. Give him some time to calm down first, okay?'

Blaine nodded again and the two fell silent. Blaine spoke up after a few minutes.

'You wouldn't hate me for liking boys, would you?' he asked softly. Simon chuckled and wrapped an arm around Blaine's shoulder, ruffling his hair with the other hand.

'I'd love you no matter who _you _loved.' Simon assured him, 'there was never any question about that. Are you going to tell him?'

'No.'

Simon almost groaned, but he waited for the explanation. Blaine glanced at him and then looked down.

'If anything, I'd be too embarrassed to do anything about it after how I treated him. I feel so, so bad. He didn't deserve that. He's been absolutely nothing but golden to me,' he elaborated, 'and anyway, I'm not ready to do anything about _it _yet, and I don't know if I will be able to for a while.'

'That's alright,' Simon assured him, 'take your time. No one is forcing you to do anything you're not comfortable with.'

He stood up and ruffled Blaine's hair again. Blaine chuckled and tried to get away from him.

'Oh, and Blaine?'

'Hmm?'

'Please watch what you say before you say it.' Simon implored, and Blaine had to nod in agreement. He wasn't the best at controlling his temper, 'and make sure you apologize to Kurt before we start filming. We don't need_ that_ much tension onscreen.'

* * *

Kurt couldn't believe how horrible his morning was.

Blaine was an absolute asshole, and he didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

Well, that was a lie; Kurt _wished _Blaine was able to be honest with himself and maybe could keep his mouth shut, but he did want him in his life, still. If he could ever forgive him for being such a narcissistic idiot.

He could only cry after he walked off; he didn't know why – the fight hadn't been _that _bad, and Blaine had probably only said what he had said in the heat of the moment, but it still stung.

He prided himself on being rational, and now that he was away from the situation he could think clearly.

Of course, he was mad at Blaine. He had no right to say things like that to Kurt – especially implying that they weren't even friends. That hurt pretty bad.

He couldn't be mad at Blaine for denying his sexuality; he knew how hard it was to be accepted by the people around him, and since Blaine was known on a much, much wider scale and therefore could be subject to a lot of abuse, he should have been more understanding. He shouldn't have used his sexuality against him – that wasn't something Kurt would usually do.

But then again, Blaine _had _started it and he didn't even care if he had upset Kurt, so Kurt had every right to snap back.

He was confused, and he didn't know what to do. He knew he was allowed to be mad, and he knew that he was allowed to not want to talk to Blaine right now. But staying mad could impact their filming and ruin everything for the both of them, and Kurt was never one to behave childishly.

But even so, he had a while since they were due to film, and he figured that he was allowed to stew until then. Blaine could be completely insensitive sometimes, and someone needed to teach him a lesson.

Well, if Blaine wanted Kurt Hummel's forgiveness, he would have to work for it.

* * *

After about an hour Kurt received a text from Simon, asking him to come down to the choir room so that they could continue filming. Kurt sighed, getting himself together, and went down to the choir room attempting to look unfazed. He brushed past Blaine, who looked rather troubled, and went straight to Simon.

'You have to get to hair and makeup,' Simon told him pointedly, 'and I think we have to have a talk later.'

The latter part was said quietly, and Kurt nodded once to show that he understood before going to find Ryan so that he could get into his costume and makeup. He sat down on the chair with a heavy sigh and the makeup artist started on him at once. Ryan eyed him curiously, leaning against the makeup counter.

'What's wrong with you?' he asked, 'you look like shit.'

Kurt shot him a glare, but shrugged.

'I had a fight with Blaine.' he explained, but Ryan didn't look any less confused.

'I didn't know you two were close enough to have a fight.' he admitted, 'what happened?'

'Oh, just…' Kurt sighed again, 'he's an idiot. He just did something stupid and we fought and I suppose I also caused it a little but now we're fighting.'

'I'm sorry…'

'Don't worry about it,' Kurt smiled, 'I'm not planning on staying mad at him forever, you know? I think I'll be over it by the end of the day or something. I mean, I'll be over it, but I don't think I'll be able to trust him for a while.'

'Yeah, no use holding grudges,' Ryan agreed, 'especially while filming; you should have seen how crap Blaine was onscreen when he was fighting with Meredith that one time. Took ages to get anything good out of him.'

Kurt, who now knew exactly why Blaine and Meredith had fought, thought that it was something reasonable to get upset over. He still wanted to hear the whole story, but knew he wouldn't for a while. Maybe one day.

He was done with makeup and was into his Dalton uniform soon after, and he went back to the choir room, where Blaine looked a lot better – his hair was neatly done and he was also dressed in his uniform. He looked uncomfortable, though, which was alright enough, because they were still filming the early stages of their friendship.

However the next few hours that followed were torture. If it wasn't awkward enough being around Blaine as it was, having to _act _awkward on top of the existing awkwardness was too much to bear. They wrapped up the choir room scenes around midday and then were excused for lunch. Kurt immediately went to leave, but he felt someone hold him back.

He figured it would be Blaine or Simon, and when he turned, he saw Blaine looking at him bashfully.

'I just wanted to say,' he started softly, 'that I'm sorry. You didn't deserve anything I said to you.'

'Well, thank you.' Kurt replied, keeping his tone polite, 'I appreciate that.'

Blaine remained quiet, but looked expectant. Kurt raised his eyebrow at him.

'Yes?'

'Are we okay?' Blaine asked slowly. Kurt shrugged.

'If you want us to be,' he replied, 'I forgive you, but that doesn't mean that I trust you anymore.'

Blaine looked as though Kurt had slapped him, but he nodded.

'Then… then I'll do anything to make it up to you.' Blaine told him resolutely, 'how about I buy you lunch?'

Kurt looked hesitant, but he couldn't say no to that face. Or those eyes, which were looking at him with such sincerity.

'Alright,' he agreed, slightly breathless, 'lunch. I can do that.'

* * *

**Well they **_**had **_**to fight eventually! This seemed like a good opportunity for some conflict to arise between our boys. But never fear – pretty soon they're going to be getting into the bigger scenes. That means leaving Dalton and lots of **_**practicing **_**their script. Eh? Eh? ;D **

**So I've noticed that a lot of people in their stories have started going, 'I'm not updating until we reach so and so reviews, so get reviewing!' and I think that it's pretty low. I mean, leave me some feedback **_**if you want to**_**. I love hearing from you guys but this story will be updated regardless – as long as I have readers, or even not, I'll be writing!**

**Oh, and some of you guys have actually been messaging me to talk, which is amazing - so if you guys want to talk about anything at all, don't even hesitate!  
See you tomorrow! Hope you all have/had a brilliant day! **


	12. Chapter 12

What Blaine meant by lunch was a sandwich from the cafeteria, because the outside of the school was becoming swamped by the press and it was attention both boys would like to avoid for as long as possible, especially Kurt, who wouldn't know how to react to the situation.

They sat down at one of the tables, across from each other. Around the room there were some scattered students, who looked over at them but quickly lost interest. Most of the boys in the room had gone to school with Blaine at some stage, and he was friendly at them, so he found himself waving at a few of them as they walked in the room.

There was an awkward lull between them and Blaine unwrapped his sandwich and sighed.

'I'm really sorry about earlier.' he started, but Kurt, who had already taken a bite, waved the apology away.

'Don't even worry about it,' he replied, though Blaine's words still stung, 'it's fine. It's not worth staying mad at each other over.'

The silence fell and Blaine still felt awful for what he had said. Kurt didn't deserve to be yelled at, least of all by him, and he bit his lip and tried again.'

'I mean, you didn't deserve any of that.' he continued, trying to make eye contact with Kurt, who was staring down at the table determinedly, 'and I didn't mean any of it. You're an amazing friend. One of the best I've had already and we haven't even known each other for long. So really, Kurt. I'm sorry.'

'Seriously, don't. It's fine.' Kurt assured him, smiling weakly at Blaine. He admired Blaine's maturity and the fact that he was trying to make things right, but he didn't understand that constantly apologizing would fix everything. Kurt would get over it, but it had only been a few hours and above all else, he needed time.

Blaine could see that his apologizes weren't doing much, and he figured that the only way to actually get Kurt to forgive him properly was to show him that he actually trusted him. Of course he trusted him; but it was hard to talk about something so personal. Even so, he could try. He took a deep breath and looked down at the table.

'Daniel and I met while I was working on a commercial.'

He could practically feel Kurt's eyes snap up and it felt as though they were burning through him. He changed a glance up at him and saw that he was trying to look neutral, but his eyes betrayed his curiosity.

'He was… obviously gay. A year older than me,' Blaine continued, 'really attractive too; dark eyes, dark hair. He was working behind the cameras and we got talking one day. Then we started talking a lot and it was calling and texting and hanging out and eventually, I couldn't get enough of him. It was weird, because at the time I didn't think much of it until I was in too deep. He… kissed me one day and it went from there.'

Kurt nodded slowly, and Blaine found that it wasn't actually that hard to talk about. It didn't feel like Kurt was judging him at all.

'It was a lot of sneaking around. I've never lied so much in my life.' Blaine confessed, 'I was so scared of people finding out, and when they did, I couldn't handle it. The thing with Meredith was blown so far out of proportion that it's still affecting us to this day, which is obvious by the way she treats me and I treat her. She… isn't accepting of gay people, so when she found out about me and Daniel, especially because I was seeing her, she absolutely lost it. Simon was great about all of it; he was on my side from the beginning. We're a lot closer because of it. After Daniel and I ended it, I was distraught. It was one of the worst things that had ever happened to me. But I pushed through it, and then I shoved all the feelings away, somewhere they wouldn't get out ever again.'

Kurt rested his chin in his hands and looked at Blaine intently.

'Are you gay?' he asked after a moment. Blaine didn't answer straight away; he mulled it over in his head for a moment.

He was attracted to girls, of course, so he couldn't be gay. He could still appreciate an attractive woman, even Meredith, despite what had happened. He often caught himself flirting with the women on set; so he couldn't be gay. But then again, he didn't notice boys unless they had something _special _about them. Like Daniel.

And now Kurt. Sort of. Maybe.

There was certainly potential there, he thought.

But it wasn't like he drooled after boys all the time. Simon wasn't that bad looking himself, and Blaine didn't find himself flirting with _him_. He didn't understand it at all, and that's what seemed to confuse him the most. He realized that a little too much time had passed since Kurt asked his question and he cleared his throat.

'Um, no,' he replied, 'not gay.'

'Okay…' Kurt nodded slowly again, not judging, merely contemplative. He knew what Blaine was going through must be hard. He was there once, too.

'So um, when did you decide you were gay?' Blaine asked after a moment of silence. Kurt shrugged.

'I think I've always known,' he replied, 'I mean, for my third birthday all I wanted was a pair of sensible heels. I think that's when my parents figured it out, too. My mom would have been fine with however I turned out, but my dad had some trouble accepting it when I came out a few years ago. I mean, I never really tried to _hide _it; it was always there, and if someone asked, I wouldn't have denied it. People just assumed it about me, I guess.'

Blaine didn't deny that he had his suspicions about Kurt's sexuality, and felt horrible about it. He figured that it must have been annoying to be judged constantly on how you acted and dressed. He experienced similar criticisms in the filming industry, but never on such a personal level. He made a note to stop judging people so quickly in the future.

He must have looked uncomfortable, because Kurt shot him a warm smile.

'It's alright,' he assured him, 'I don't mind it anymore. I'm glad people know who I am. I don't want to have to hide.'

The words hit Blaine pretty hard, and he wished that he were able to not hide who he was; not the talented Hollywood actor, but the boy with a passion for music and perhaps some attraction towards boys. He had to fit such a high standard, and it was exhausting at best.

'But if you ever need help with anything,' Kurt continued, and Blaine's eyes snapped up and they locked gazes for a moment, 'I can help. Seriously, I know it can be hard and it _is _a huge struggle to come to terms with even being attracted to boys… but I can help. I've been through it. I know how it works. So don't hesitate, okay?'

He reached across the table and covered Blaine's hand with his, who gave him a weak smile. He wasn't sure if he'd ever accept it, but it was nice to know there was someone there for him. It wasn't something he wanted for himself; it wasn't how he had planned his life out. He was going to marry a woman one day, not a man. But he knew that he would probably always have that nagging in the back of his mind, the one that screamed at him to screw the standards and just accept himself.

The finished their lunch talking about relatively basic things, avoiding the topic of their fight and Blaine's sexuality for most of the hour. As they were due back for filming, Kurt patted Blaine's hand.

'I appreciate your honesty.' he told him, smiling fondly at him, 'I know how hard that must have been for you, so I really appreciate that.'

'Thank you for listening,' Blaine replied softly, 'not many people do. It feels kind of nice to get it out into the open.'

'See? I'm helping already.' Kurt winked, standing up, 'come on, we don't want Simon to skin us alive like last time.'

* * *

By the end of the day, when Kurt was packing his things up to head back home, he was feeling a lot better about his fight with Blaine, especially after hearing what he had to say. It was never really hard to accept his sexuality, but Kurt did have a very, very hard time from other people for it. He considered just leaving school so many times because people were just so cruel and judgemental, sometimes even getting physically violent with him. But he figured that he couldn't change who he was, and they weren't important enough to even bother worrying. Now it was easier for him to walk with his head held high, but even now he was worried about the backlash. So many people knew who Blaine was, and therefore there were a lot more people who could potentially disapprove of his sexuality.

He was exhausted from filming and couldn't wait to get home to a home cooked meal and a bath. He had a long drive ahead of him, and all he wanted to do was sleep. He absolutely hated driving when he was drowsy, but he had a thermos full of coffee that he'd stocked up on and was confident he would make it home in one piece. He was just putting his script into his satchel when Blaine came up to him.

'So, you're going home, I see.' he commented, eyeing Kurt's bag. Kurt looked up at him and grinned.

'Your powers of observation never seem to fail, Mr. Holmes,' he joked, buckling his bag. Blaine rolled his eyes at him.

'I didn't know you were a Sherlock fan.'

'Only the television series,' Kurt replied, 'Benedict Cumberbatch is strangely sexy.'

'Somehow, I'll have to agree with that,' Blaine laughed as Kurt stood, 'I've never seen the films. Apparently they're really good, too.'

'Apparently so. Maybe we could watch them together sometime?' Kurt suggested, suddenly feeling nervous. He'd never been the one to instigate plans with him – it was usually Blaine.

'Sure,' Blaine smiled, 'and we can eat popcorn and be generally fat. Pretty soon we'll be on the road and we're gonna have nothing to do while travelling.'

'On the road?' Kurt repeated, frowning.

'Um, yeah? We're going to New York, I think, for the court thing,' Blaine reminded him, 'and then some other places. We aren't just going to _stay _in Ohio, we're basically only here for Dalton and the auditions, and now that both of those things are more or less over, we're going to go.'

'But… I don't want to leave my family.' Kurt told him, his voice small, 'I'm going to miss them.'

'Hey,' Blaine frowned, 'it's going to be alright. It's not like you're going forever; you'll be back soon enough. I mean, I assumed that you knew; your dad knows, seeing as he agreed to the contract.'

'Right.'

Kurt was close to his family and he didn't really want to leave them for a long period of time, but he would have to do that to go to college anyway soon enough, so he might as well get it over and done with. Which reminded him – how was he meant to complete his senior year? Ah well. Thoughts for another day. He was too tired to think much right now.

'So, I'm going to go.'

He slung his satchel over his shoulder and smiled at Blaine, who looked thoughtful for a moment.

'Alright. I'll see you in a few days then?'

'Sure.'

There was a small lull and after a moment, Blaine stepped forward and hugged Kurt tightly.

'Thanks for everything you did today! And I'm sorry for being an asshole to you. I hope you can forgive me for it.'

'It's fine.' Kurt assured him, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck and hugging him back. They stood like that for a moment before Blaine drew back and pressed a light kiss to Kurt's cheek before releasing him.

Kurt's face turned a red that would rival most tomatoes, but he smiled at Blaine.

'I'll see you later, Kurt.' Blaine smiled, and then walked away. When Kurt was sure he couldn't see him, he let out a small squeal and clapped his hands together, the place where Blaine had kissed him tingling slightly.

Blaine had stopped just around the corner, shocked at what he'd just done. He was leaning against the wall, his eyes shut, when he heard a happy squeal coming from around the corridor. It took him a moment to realize it was Kurt, and when he did, his stomach did a happy flip and he couldn't wipe the smile from his lips.

* * *

**Aw, some development between the boys! It's good that they're going slow, don't you think? Well, too bad if you do, because pretty soon they're going to be hurtling down the path of luuuuuurve. ;) Not that I'm giving anything away or anything! But I'm glad they've settled their differences and Blaine opened up a little.**

**Still to come: Kurt first negative reaction from the press, and how he handles it, some practice between the boys, and some random appearances from Ms Berry, who is still deciding whether to sell out and go Hollywood or stick to her Broadway roots.**

**Feedback is much appreciated, as ever, and of course, I hope you enjoyed it! See you guys tomorrow.**

**PS – I'm astounded at the reaction this story is getting, and I'd like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for even reading this. Thank you, you're all amazing, every single one of you!**


	13. Chapter 13

Kurt got home in one piece, despite his exhaustion, to find his entire family sitting in the living room, apparently waiting for him.

'Hey, guys,' he greeted them brightly, though the fatigue was evident in his voice, 'how are you?'

He collapsed on the couch next to Carole, who wrapped him into a hug immediately. Finn shrugged.

'We're okay, dude,' he replied, 'we already ate without you and I accidentally had your stuff too so I hope you're not hungry.'

Kurt laughed – typical Finn, eating everyone's food.

'That's fine,' he assured him, 'what did you all do today?'

Carole launched into a tale about going to the supermarket and something about her car engine being faulty, and Burt explained that he'd had to work late because of an emergency in the shop.

Finn had spent the day at Rachel's, but it was obvious that they were more interested in what Kurt had done that day. He filled them in on what it was like to be onscreen, but of course he left out the part about getting drunk with Blaine, and the fight they'd had. It wasn't exactly something you discussed with your family.

They asked questions about filming and his cast, and Kurt answered them enthusiastically, if not a little drowsily. He had missed his family over the weekend and was glad to be catching up with them. But if he had missed them this much over the space of a few days, how was he meant to go off and shoot in different places around the country, going without them for months?

It was something he didn't want to think about at that very moment, so he simply continued to talk aimlessly with them until he was too tired to even keep his eyes open. He was content here at home; he realized just how humbling it was to be able to come back home to people who loved him for who he was, and not just for a Hollywood contract.

* * *

'I've been thinking about the song, and I think I want to do it.'

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Kurt was in glee club, listening to Mr. Schue prattle on about the weekly assignment. While he was talking, Rachel shifted her chair over to Kurt's so that they could whisper together without disrupting Mr. Schue.

'Really?' That's great, Rachel.' Kurt beamed at her, 'you'll do amazing. Someone will offer you a record contract in no time!'

'See, that's not what I want.' Rachel replied, frowning slightly, 'I want Broadway, Kurt. Somehow I think this could help me, though. I mean, if I already have experience in singing professionally I would look a lot more appealing, wouldn't I?'

'I guess that's true,' Kurt agreed, 'but Hollywood and Broadway have to be like… polar opposites. I think you should do it anyway. It would be nice to have a familiar face on set.'

'What about Blaine?'

Kurt hadn't told anyone about the fight he had with Blaine, because that would mean revealing Blaine's sexuality crisis. Not wanting to betray his friend's trust, he shrugged.

'Well, yeah, there's Blaine, but it would be better to have you there. I'm a lot more comfortable with you, so it only makes sense to have you there, right?'

Rachel smiled at him and patted his knee fondly.

'How are you and Blaine, anyway?' she asked. Kurt's mind flitted back to the light kiss Blaine had planted on his cheek, and the way the thought of it still made his stomach flip.

'There's some… progress.' he replied, 'if not romantically then definitely platonically. He kissed me on the cheek when I left on Sunday, if that means anything.'

Rachel gasped dramatically, her eyes lighting up. Tina and Mike turned to look at them, looking rather confused, but Rachel motioned for them to turn back to the front.

'What do you mean, he _kissed _you?' she exclaimed, and her voice was perhaps a little too loud because at her words, everyone turned around.

'_Who_ kissed you, Kurt?' Quinn asked, sounding interested. Kurt groaned and slapped his palm against his forehead, and Rachel saw this as an opportunity to answer on Kurt's behalf.

'Blaine did!' she quipped, looking pleased with herself. At once, the people in the room began to talk loudly. The girls were squealing excitedly and the boys looked oddly protective.

'I thought this Blaine guy was straight. He better not hurt you or he'll have _me _to answer to.' Puck announced, cracking his knuckles threateningly.

'Does this mean he's _not_ gay?' Tina asked, and then sighed, 'always the good ones!'

'Hey!' Mike protested from beside her, but she grinned at him and silenced him with a kiss. Kurt groaned again and stood up.

'Blaine didn't kiss me,' he announced, and the girls made sounds of disappointment, 'well, he kissed me on the _cheek_.'

'That's so cute!' Quinn cooed, 'do you two have a thing?'

'No.' Kurt replied firmly, 'we're just friends and he's just being friendly. Please do not listen to a single thing Rachel says, she is delusional.'

'Not for long!' she singsonged, 'I so predict a relationship between the two of you.'

Kurt sat down and sighed, avoiding the questions his fellow glee club members began to bombard him with. It was bad enough not having Blaine like him back, his friends were just rubbing salt in the wound.

'Alright, alright,' Mr. Schuester clapped his hands from the front of the room, 'as fascinating as Kurt's love life must be, we really have to focus this week.'

The group grumbled a little but turned their attention back to Mr. Schue, who shot Kurt a knowing smile. Kurt smiled back thankfully, glad that someone was able to keep the group under control.

* * *

Friday was his next scheduled shoot, so he made his way to Dalton bright and early, ready for another exhausting weekend of filming.

He arrived at around seven that morning, and as usual, there weren't that many people around. Most of the Dalton boys would either be waking up or at breakfast; it was still early and classes started at nine. His crew members were also nowhere to be found, so he made his way to the cafeteria and got himself a coffee and sat down at one of the tables on his own.

He sipped in silence for a few minutes, before he was approached by an oddly familiar pair. It was the boys from the week before; Nick and Jeff. Kurt smiled at them, and they hovered at the edge of his table, holding hands.

'Do you mind if we sit here?' the blonde one, Jeff, if Kurt remembered correctly, asked. Kurt smiled at them.

'Be my guests.' he replied, and they set their coffees down and sat down across from Kurt. A small silence followed.

'So, how do you like Dalton?' Nick asked after a moment..

'It's beautiful,' Kurt replied, 'a lot better than my other school. This reminds me of a castle.'

'Where do you go?' Jeff asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

'McKinley, in Lima. It's a public school so…'

'Public schools aren't bad.' Nick smiled, 'nothing wrong with them at all.'

'Mm,' Jeff murmured in agreement, 'I mean, Dalton is great but we're pretty sheltered here.'

'Know nothing of the real world!'

'Only our dad's bank accounts and bad cafeteria food!'

Kurt chuckled, noting how in sync they were.

'So, you guys are dating right?'

'Yep,' Nick grinned, pressing a kiss to Jeff's cheek, 'have been since the dawn of time.'

'Can't even remember life before him.'

'Those were dark days.

'Dark days indeed!'

'How I remember the piercing chill of the ice upon my barren soul…'

Kurt laughed outright this time; they were hilarious, and obviously so well suited to each other.

'Are you two the only gay couple at Dalton?' he asked, 'I mean, I hate to intrude…'

'Oh, not at all,' Jeff waved his hand, 'there are loads of them, actually.'

'Yeah, we started to wonder if everyone went here was gay.'

'Before they started sneaking girls into their dorms.'

Nick pulled out his phone and began scrolling through what appeared to be news headlines, and Jeff and Kurt chatted idly about their respective glee clubs. Suddenly, Nick's face went flat and he glanced up at Kurt gravely before looking back down at his phone.

Jeff seemed to notice his boyfriend's change in mood instantly and he glanced over to the screen before he, too, looked grave.

'What's wrong?' Kurt asked, feeling suspicious.

'Um… nothing.' Nick laughed nervously, 'nothing at all.'

'There's nothing regarding you on the screen.'

'Not at all.'

Kurt raised an eyebrow, but an uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach at their words. Wordlessly, he held his hand out and Nick sighed heavily before handing Kurt his phone.

It was a news article, and it featured a picture of him – his school photo of all things; how had they even gotten a hold of that? – and a title that stated:

**Kurt Hummel: Too gay to play?**

His stomach churned at the words, and he forced himself to read through the article, ignoring the burning in his cheeks.

_Kurt Hummel, 18, who has been chosen to star opposite Blaine Anderson in the Hollywood blockbuster _Savior of Light_, is the envy of boys and girls around the nation. However, there have been concerns from areas of the crew that Hummel is too caught up on his dashing lead male to act properly around him._

'_It's like watching a little puppy,' the source told us, who chose to remain anonymous, 'he follows Blaine everywhere. It's a little disturbing.'_

'_On top of that, with his choice of outfits and his voice; it's like he's trying to be a woman. Even his song choices are too feminine; I honestly thought there would be someone more masculine to play the role but I guess the directors had their reasons. I was told Blaine Anderson himself had a big part in getting Hummel the role, so I wonder what that suggests about their relationship.'_

The article went on and on to basically criticize him for everything he was doing. Somewhere within this crew, there was someone who clearly hated him, and he could feel tears beginning to sting in the corner of his eyes as he reached the bottom.

'Who would even say such a thing?' he whispered, voice full of hurt. Nick and Jeff shared a glance, and in an instant they had stood and rushed to the other side of the table to wrap and arm each around Kurt's shoulders and comfort him.

'Don't let it get you down – you should see the things Blaine has had printed about him!' Nick soothed, 'it's okay, whoever this is obviously doesn't appreciate your talent or your individuality.'

'Actually, it sounds like they're jealous of you.' Jeff added, 'and you haven't even read the comments yet, so don't be upset because of one stupid person!'

'The comments?'

'Yeah, the comments are super nice! We forgot to mention those, hang on.' Nick scrolled to the bottom of the page and brought up the comments. Kurt felt a smile twitch at his lips as he read them, and the unease in his stomach slowly faded.

"**I did some research on Kurt Hummel and found his glee club videos. Needless to say, he is stunning, his voice is stunning and the person in this article should jump off something tall."**

"_**As if you wouldn't be freaking out if you got to star in a movie with Blaine Anderson. I do not blame him in the slightest, he looks like a great person. Such a good fashion sense!"**_

"**Let me just say, this boy goes to my school and although I've never really spoken to him, I've seen what he has had to go through and he is one brave person for consistently staying true to himself, no matter how much abuse he's received in the past. He should be looked up to, not slandered!"**

"_**Somehow, I just can't believe anything said in this article. Look at him – he's gorgeous! Definitely looking forward to seeing him in the film!"**_

The comments went on and on, saying similar things. Kurt read through most of them and a radiant smile spread across his face.

'I can't believe people are supporting me!' he exclaimed, 'that is so cool.'

'Of course they're standing up for you.' Nick smiled, 'why wouldn't they? You've done nothing wrong.'

'Oh, and if it helps, we totally don't think you're all over Blaine.' Jeff informed him, settling back in the seat next to Kurt's.

'Yeah, if anything, he's all over you.' Nick winked, reaching across the table for his coffee.

Kurt didn't bother asking what Nick meant by that, because he knew what was going through Blaine's head at this point. But Nick's words seemed to play in his head on repeat.

But he was also curious as to who would go to the press and say such rude things about him. As far as he was concerned, he was nothing but nice to the crew members, and they seemed to like him, so he couldn't imagine who would do such a thing. It wasn't so much the attack that upset him, but it was the fact that he had to work with these people and now he didn't even know if he could trust them.

It was a rather disheartening thought, but the idea of already having some sort of fan base made him giddy, and it made the whole experience seem more real. He had people who actually liked _him_, how he dressed, how he acted. He even had people go to the trouble of looking him up just so they could hear him sing – he felt rather flattered.

He talked with Nick and Jeff until they had to leave to prepare for their classes, and he had to go find Simon to find out what they would be filming later that day.

He liked the couple – they were very friendly and obviously very kind. And he hoped that one day he could have a relationship like theirs. Blaine came to mind then, but Kurt pushed the thought away. It was obvious that he and Blaine would never have something like that.

* * *

When Kurt found Simon, he appeared extremely harrowed.

'Kurt – there you are!' he exclaimed, 'how are you feeling?'

'Fine, thank you. I –'

'We all saw the article on the internet, and can I just say, please do _not _worry about it. I have my suspicions as to who it was referring to, but until I have solid evidence I'd rather keep it to myself. In any case, _do not worry_. Reality is that you'll read a lot of trash about yourself online.'

'I don't care,' Kurt laughed, 'I saw it this morning and I have to admit, I was a little upset by it but then I read the comments and I felt a lot better.'

Simon smiled, looking rather relieved, 'I'm glad. More often than not you'll have a shitload of support, but it's always bad to read negative things about yourself.'

Kurt nodded and then looked around the room where various people were setting up. As he made eye contact with them, they shot him genuine smiles. Someone was against him, and it didn't appear to be any of these people. It couldn't be.

But then he noticed one person in particular was missing and he turned back to Simon.

'Where's Blaine?' he asked. Simon looked up from his phone.

'Blaine? Oh, um, up in his room rehearsing or something,' he replied, 'oh! Right, he asked me to send you up whenever you came in. You remember where his room is?'

Kurt did remember it, and he bid goodbye to Simon before making the journey to Blaine's room. Dalton was seriously _huge_, and with classes starting and the hallways filling up, he had taken the wrong turn several times and was severely delayed in finding Blaine's dorm. When he did, however, he knocked on the door lightly and it was flung open almost immediately.

'Hi!' Blaine greeted him breathlessly, his eyes shining, 'I've been expecting you!'

'So I've been told.' Kurt smiled, stepping into the room, 'how are you?'

'Great, thanks!' Blaine replied, closing the door, 'what about you?'

Kurt went to sit in the desk chair and noticed that Blaine's laptop was open to the article about him, but it was scrolled to the bottom of the page where Blaine was apparently in the middle of writing an anonymous comment.

"**The person from the article should just leave Earth forever because Kurt Hummel is probably the most fabulous person in the history of the universe. I mean, come on, you'd have to be blind to not be able to see how blatantly talented he -"**

Kurt read through the comment and then looked at Blaine, smirking, raising an eyebrow at him. Blaine turned a shade of red and walked over to the desk, shutting the laptop quickly.

'Just uh, showing some support.' he explained, his cheeks still red. Kurt laughed.

'I appreciate that,' he told him, 'really. Thank you. If it helps, when people said bad things about you on the internet I was known to get very catty with them.'

'Oh, really?' now Blaine was the one smirking, 'I'd love to see catty Kurt.'

Kurt giggled at the comment and they fell into a comfortable silence for a while.

'So, do you want to rehearse?' Blaine asked, getting his script off the bed, 'I think we should rehearse that big dramatic scene between the two of them – you know, the first time they kiss.'

'Oh – okay.' Kurt replied hesitantly. Blaine looked at him.

'We don't have to,' he told him quickly, 'I mean, it would be good to start on it soon but if you're not comfortable, we can go over something else.'

Kurt didn't understand why he was so nervous about a simple kiss – was it because it would be his first? Probably not. But he _was _worried that he would be horrible at it or something. And maybe it was because it was _Blaine Anderson_ – he was a movie star, he was absolutely gorgeous and he probably had high standards of kissing.

'It's fine, I don't mind,' Kurt shrugged and smiled at him, opening his satchel to pull out his script. He'd gone over it and marked it so that he knew where each scene was, and he found the appropriate page quickly.

'Alright, um,' Blaine flicked through his script, 'did you want to start from _I got my results back_?'

Kurt nodded and quickly shut his eyes and exhaled, trying to get into character. When he opened his eyes again, he could practically _feel_ himself become Cameron. He stood up and slumped his shoulders a little.

'I got my results back today,' he told Blaine, who was looking concerned, 'and – and Oliver… there's not much time left for me now. We've both got to start accepting that.'

'Accepting it?' Blaine repeated, sounding dumbstruck, 'how – how long do you have left?'

'Less than a year.' Kurt replied quietly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Honestly, he didn't need the script with the amount of times he'd read through the scene, but he held it anyways, his eyes flicking towards it occasionally.

Blaine was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, he sounded anguished.

'And – and you're _certain _they won't do anything about it?' he asked, 'there's no way around it?'

Kurt shook his head and sniffed once. The two maintained eye contact before Blaine bit his lip and exhaled shakily.

'Shit.'

He was so believable when he acted that Kurt was having trouble not rushing forward and wrapping him in his arms. But he had to continue with the scene, and he cleared his throat before continuing.

'So maybe this is where we should say out goodbyes,' he suggested, but his voice begged for anything but that, 'I – I mean, there's not much time left now and the more we get involved, the harder it's going to be in the end to… to part ways…'

'When are you going to understand,' Blaine started, his voice low. He wasn't reading from the script now, and his voice was husky, his eyes trained on Kurt's, 'that I don't care about the sickness. I don't care how much this is going to hurt in the end. Nothing could be worse than this.'

'Worse than what?' Kurt asked, the script hanging limply at his side. They were hardly acting anymore; the air between them was far too intense. Blaine took a step forward so that they were mere inches apart.

'Being around you and not being able to do anything about it.' Blaine replied softly, not even looking at his script anymore, 'not being able to touch you, or kiss you, or anything. I don't know if it's because you're holding us back, or if I am, but I can't stand it anymore. I can't be around you and not have you.'

'No one's stopping us.' Kurt told him, his voice barely a whisper. In the back of his mind, he wondered vaguely if that was in the script, but he found himself too wrapped up in whatever Blaine was saying to even check. They kept their eyes locked for a moment, before Kurt realized that this was where Blaine had to kiss him. Practice or not, Blaine Anderson was going to kiss him.

And then Blaine was leaning in and Kurt didn't know whether to cry or freeze or respond, but a moment later his eyes shut involuntarily and he felt Blaine's lips press against his softly and he was gone.

His arms seemed to wrap around Blaine's neck on their own accord, and a moment later he felt Blaine's arms around his waist, pulling him close. He could only focus on the soft pressure against his lips; the rest of the world seemed to be a blur. After a few glorious, glorious moments, he regained his senses and realized that this was only practicing, and he made to pull away from Blaine.  
But Blaine made a small noise of protest as Kurt tried to pull away and he pulled him back, tightening his grip around Kurt's waist, bringing him impossibly close.

* * *

**YES. YES I AM GOING TO LEAVE YOU GUYS THERE BECAUSE YES, I AM SO VERY, VERY CRUEL.**

… **Man, I love practicing! Practicing in Original Song, practicing in SOL, practice forever boys! Practice forever!**

**And as always, you will have your next chapter within the next 24 hours and I hope that this is enough to keep you on the edge of your seats until you get that email saying the next chapter has been uploaded. I hate to be so cruel but… well, I don't. I love the suspense!**

**And hate me as much as you want, guys, I know you love it too! ;)**

**So let me know what you think of this chapter. Of Kurt's online abuse? Of Nick and Jeff, Dalton's favourite couple? Of Rachel doing her song?**

… **Of our boys FINALLY locking lips? And **_**Blaine **_**not letting him go?**

**See you guys tomorrow! Love you all!**

***braces self for onslaught of rage filled reviews* Muahahahaha!**


	14. Chapter 14

Kurt didn't know exactly _how _he found himself in the situation he was in, but he wasn't about to complain… not that he could even if he wanted to – he wasn't able to form a coherent thought, by the looks of it.

Blaine gently let go of his hips and placed them on Kurt's chest, pushing slightly, making Kurt back up a few steps until he felt the frame of the bed hit the back of his knees. His immediate reaction was to sit down, ignoring the dull pain in his legs from hitting the frame, and he managed to scoot further up the bed until he was leaning against the wall.

Blaine followed his movements, never breaking the gentle kiss, and was now kneeling between Kurt's legs, taking his face gently in his hands and running his tongue over Kurt's bottom lip. Kurt resisted the urge to shiver, and his mouth automatically opened wider, and Blaine deepened the kiss instantly.

Kurt's head was absolutely swimming. He was slowly losing air, but was determined to continue kissing Blaine until either he ran out of oxygen entirely or the sun lost heat in the sky. He never thought he would be kissed like this, especially by Blaine Anderson. His mind vaguely thought to Rachel and Mercedes, and how they would absolutely freak when he told them what happened.

And then he realized that he was thinking of his two best friends while kissing the boy of his _dreams_, and he pushed them from his mind and kissed Blaine fiercely.

But after a few moments, Blaine pulled away, and Kurt was scared he'd done something wrong, but then Blaine ducked his head and Kurt could feel him pressing hot, open mouthed kisses against his neck and Kurt's eyes squeezed shut and he moaned softly.

His eyes shot open, horrified, but the moan only seemed to fuel Blaine, who had reached the base of his neck. He sucked in some of the skin between his teeth, and Kurt felt a strangely erotic sensation of both pleasure and pain, and he realized that Blaine was giving him a hickey.

As exciting as that was, it seemed to knock some sense into Kurt. He pushed Blaine off him gently, and Blaine looked up, his hair sticking up at different, messy angles, and his lips swollen and red. His eyes were dark and his breathing heavy and Kurt wondered vaguely if he also looked like that.

'Did I… do something wrong?' he asked hesitantly, sounding out of breath. Kurt resisted the urge to scoff – he'd done nothing but absolute _right_. But Blaine was still waiting for an answer, so he shook his head.

'Of course not,' he replied, 'it's just… I don't think that's how the scene is meant to go.'

_Right, Kurt. Pretend there was nothing personal about that, that's fine. That's not stupid at all._ he thought sarcastically, mentally kicking himself. There was a long, long pause, and Blaine looked at him carefully.

'Right,' he agreed, though his voice was tinged with bitterness. He ran his hand over his hair, trying to flatten it, 'right. Of course. Sorry.'

He got off the bed and went to grab his bag, and Kurt knew he'd said the absolute worst thing.

'No, Blaine, I didn't mean it like that.' he protested, and Blaine spun to look at him. He still looked flustered, and his lips were still swollen, but now behind the lust-blown pupils, Kurt could see obvious hurt.

'No, it's fine.' Blaine replied softly, 'I know what you meant, and it's fine. You're right, anyway. That's not how it's meant to go.'

As soon as he said it, Kurt knew he didn't mean the scene. He opened his mouth to respond, but found he had nothing to say to that. Blaine sighed, and then threw Kurt a weak smile.

'I'm going to find Simon,' he told him, 'you… you should make yourself presentable, and then come down, too. I'll see you later.'

He left then, and shut the door behind him. Kurt bit his lip, feeling guilty.

It was obvious that the comment hurt Blaine, but then again – why would it? As far as Kurt knew, he didn't have feelings for him and therefore shouldn't have been upset by anything Kurt had said. Unless there was something Blaine wasn't telling him.

But then again, what were the odds of that?

He sighed and went to the bathroom to fix himself up. When he looked in the mirror, he was slightly horrified at his reflection.

His clothes were rumpled and his hair was an absolute mess – his skin was flushed and his lips swollen and his pupils blown. And there, at the base of his neck, was a dark, purple hickey. He groaned, having no way to cover it, and went to his satchel and pulled out a scarf, looping it around his neck quickly. He rummaged through the drawers, feeling a little invasive because it was indeed Blaine's bathroom, and pulled out a comb, running it through his hair. When he was satisfied with it – it was a little flat, but there wasn't much he could do about it – he took a deep breath to compose himself and took his bag, heading down to find the crew.

He was still absolutely dazed that he had more or less made out with Blaine. And Blaine had seemed pretty into it, which was more than reassuring – especially because it was Kurt's first kiss.

He didn't know why he was so scared of it in the first place – kissing was easy.

And apparently addictive, because he was already trying to figure out how to get Blaine to 'practice' that scene again.

* * *

Once he had been ushered by Simon into costume and makeup, Kurt had no choice but to remove his scarf.

Which posed a great problem for him – for one, he couldn't pass it off as an old hickey; it was practically glowing against his alabaster skin. Secondly, he still looked rather ruffled from before, no matter how many times he had attempted to straighten himself out. However, luckily for him, Ryan was working on him today as the other makeup artist was sick – a minor miracle for Kurt.

But he was still hesitant to remove the scarf, and Ryan noticed his reluctance.

'It's not even cold in here, Kurt,' he sighed, 'take the scarf off, you have to be back in there in like, twenty minutes.'

'Oh but… I've got a cold, see,' Kurt explained, and then coughed for effect, 'and I don't want to make it worse…'

'You do not have a cold,' Ryan rolled his eyes, 'I'd be able to tell. Take the scarf off, Kurt. We don't have time to play around.'

Kurt sighed and muttered mutinously under his breath, before pulling the scarf off slowly. When it was off, and Kurt dropped it onto the makeup counter, Ryan's eyes widened.

'Is that…?' he asked, looking incredibly amused. Kurt sighed and nodded, dropping himself into the chair in front of the counter. He spun around to look at the mirror and caught sight of the hickey again, and groaned, hitting his head against the counter softly.

'Who gave you that?' Ryan asked, trying to sound conversational, but Kurt could hear the curiosity in his voice.

'If I told you,' he replied, mumbling into the countertop, 'I'd have to kill you.'

Ryan chuckled at that, but began to rummage on the counter for concealer to cover it up as best he could.

'No, seriously, you can tell me. I'm good at keeping secrets – I'm a gay makeup artist. Don't people tell all their secrets to them?'

'No, you tell your secrets to your hairdressers,' Kurt replied, but he _was _itching to get it off his chest, 'okay, okay. You can't tell _anyone_ though, okay? Because I'm not planning on telling anyone else so if this gets out, I _will_ end you.'

'I swear I won't tell a soul!' Ryan promised.

Kurt looked around to make sure that no one else was in the room with them. When he was certain it was all clear, he smiled.

'Blaine.'

'Get out!'

'I'm being serious!' Kurt replied, high voice high with excitement, 'we were um, practicing for one of the scenes and it got a little bit out of hand…'

Ryan started dabbing concealer on the bruise, trying to cover it up.

'I never thought Blaine would go back to that,' Ryan commented, 'after the thing with that other guy… oh wait, I'm not allowed to mention that.'

'He told me about it.' Kurt told him, 'I was a little shocked.'

'We were all a little shocked.' Ryan replied, 'more than a little, actually. But the poor dear, he was so scared. I mean, it's not even that big of a deal. Everyone was supportive… except his girlfriend, of course, but that's understandable.'

'I guess,' Kurt agreed, watching the hickey on his neck slowly fade under the makeup. Ryan kept trying to prompt him for more details as he finished Kurt's hair and makeup, but Kurt refused to divulge anything more.

Just as Kurt was getting ready to leave, Blaine walked in, probably to change and get made up, too. He and Kurt made brief eye contact, but he looked away quickly. Kurt could sense how awkward it was going to be between them for a while, and again, he felt terrible for embarrassing him earlier.

'Well, looks like you're all done here,' Ryan winked, ushering Kurt out of the room. He glanced backwards at Blaine a final time and Blaine smiled at him, though it was faint and fake. Kurt bit his lip and bid a quick goodbye to Ryan, leaving the room quickly.

* * *

'Hey – Kurt!'

Kurt turned around and saw Simon coming towards him.

'Hey, Simon!' he smiled, 'what are we shooting today?'

'Um… we'll get to that. I kind of wanted to talk to you about something first.' Simon replied, taking Kurt's upper arm and pulling him aside gently. Kurt had a vague idea that this was going to be about Blaine.

'What's wrong?' he asked, half-dreading the answer. Simon looked around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard.

'Does Blaine seem off to you?' he asked. Kurt felt his stomach turn and he feigned ignorance.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, when he came back downstairs he seemed… distant. Did anything happen with you guys? Another fight?'

Kurt wasn't aware that Simon had even seen the first, but he shrugged.

'No, we weren't fighting.' Kurt replied, 'I don't know what could be wrong with him. Maybe he's just having an off day?'

Simon nodded, 'maybe. I'll talk to him about it. You just go to the cafeteria, your shoot starts in half an hour.'

Kurt smiled at him and nodded before leaving for the cafeteria. Why was Blaine so upset by his comment? He didn't understand it. And they _had _been practicing; things just got a little… carried away, Kurt supposed. Besides, Blaine had kept the kiss going, not Kurt. It's not like Kurt was leading Blaine on or something.

He made it to the cafeteria and took a seat at one of the tables while the rest of the crew set up. A few minutes later, Blaine walked into the room, in his Dalton uniform. He hadn't seen Kurt yet, so Kurt took the opportunity to thoroughly check him out when he walked in. He looked stunning in the uniform, and Kurt didn't look forward to the day when they were done filming at Dalton and had to move on.

But Blaine spotted him soon enough, and he walked right up to Blaine.

'Hello.' Kurt smiled at him, though he still felt some tension there. However it wasn't awkwardness this time. He couldn't quite place what it was, but it was there.

'Kurt, Blaine!' Simon called from the back of the room, 'could you come here, please?'

Kurt went to stand up but as he went to walk away, Blaine grabbed his arm and held him back.

'Is there anything wrong?' Kurt asked, studying the intense look on his face. His eyes were dark, much as they had been that time upstairs, and he was looking at Kurt rather strangely.

'I think,' he replied slowly, 'that you and I have some more _practicing _to do.'

* * *

**Guys, I have so much to study for this week, it's insane. Not to mention I have a play next week that I'm rehearsi****ng for! Sorry for being slack, but I'm really, really trying!**

**On top of that, I've spent most of the afternoon throwing up and I've been having problems at home and there's just so much going on, so I'm really sorry for not updating. I'm sorry this is shorter and probably a lot worse written than the other chapters but I promise I'll be updating regularly and well soon enough.  
**

**So as always, let me know what you thought, and again, I'm really sorry.**

**Bye guys!**


	15. Chapter 15

Blaine's suggestion of 'practicing' more loomed over Kurt's mind for a large portion for the rest of the day. While he was filming, he could barely remember his lines, which made Simon more than a little annoyed at him. Blaine kept glancing at him with a knowing smirk, and Kurt knew that he knew what he was thinking about. The hickey under his collar practically burned, a reminder of what had happened earlier. Kurt didn't understand how Blaine had the nerve to be so smug after _he _was the one to get all insulted and upset after Kurt's comment.

But Blaine was an extremely odd person, now that Kurt thought about it, and although he was talented and brilliant, he was so insecure and lost – something Kurt would have never expected. It just went to show that you could never really judge a person until you completely got to the bottom of them.

Kurt decided to spend his lunch break alone. Instead of sitting in the cafeteria with everyone else, he took a sandwich and a bottle of water from one of the tables and set about the school, lost in his own thoughts. He didn't know where he stood with Blaine – and he definitely didn't know what he meant by practicing. Kurt did have feelings for him, and if being around him wasn't painful enough, the mixed messages Blaine was sending were practically torture. He ambled into one of the empty common rooms and sat down on the couch, resting his chin in his hands, feeling decidedly sorry for himself.

_Stupid Blaine, _he thought, annoyed, _with his stupid perfect face, and his stupid talent, and his stupid amazing personality._

He sat there thinking until it was almost time for him to go back, and then began walking aimlessly again. He liked walking; it helped clear his mind, and the school was certainly big enough to roam about. As he neared the cafeteria, he walked into Blaine.

'Oh, hey,' he smiled at him, stopping and leaning against the wall. Blaine shot him a smile, which bordered somewhat on seductive. Kurt felt a small shiver run through him.

'Hey,' Blaine replied, 'so I was wondering… about that kiss this morning.'

'Mm?'

'Well, I agree,' Blaine told him, stepping closer, 'I don't think it's meant to go like that.'

'Oh… really?'

Kurt began to feel nervous, but his stomach started to churn with excitement. Blaine glanced over him and he smirked.

'Yeah, I think that was a little… much for their first kiss,' he elaborated, 'so I was thinking that it should go a little more like this…'

And before Kurt could even think of a response, Blaine stepped forward and pulled Kurt forward, pressing their lips together in a searing but brief kiss. By the time Blaine pulled away, Kurt's head was spinning, and his breathing heavy.

'I was thinking more like that.' Blaine told him, 'what do you think?'

Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but found he couldn't. Blaine chuckled and then winked at him, walking away. Kurt stared after him for a moment, before his eyes narrowed.

_Oh, it is so on_, he thought, hitching his bag up his shoulder and following Blaine to the cafeteria.

* * *

Simon wasn't the most observant person in the world, but when it came to his cast, he could notice practically anything. And what he could notice now was some very obvious tension between Kurt and Blaine. Not angry kind of tension. Well, it was almost as though they were frustrated with one another, but it wasn't out of anger. He didn't quite understand it, but standing next to the camera, watching them interact onscreen, was very interesting. It made for some good dramatic tension, he figured, even though he was quite eager to find out why they were behaving so oddly. After they had finished shooting, he dragged Blaine aside.

'So, uh, what's going on with you and Kurt?' he asked.

'Me and Kurt?' Blaine repeated, 'nothing at all. Why do you ask?'

'Well, you guys seem a little… tense… around each other.' Simon shrugged, 'so I was just wondering. Is everything okay?'

And of all things, Blaine smiled.

'Yeah.' he replied, 'yeah, things are fine. I don't see what could be wrong.'

And with that, he walked away. Simon stared after him, confused. He knew something was going on, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it, whatever it was.

* * *

'Hey, Blaine!'

Blaine spun around and smiled at Kurt, who was standing behind him.

'Oh, hey Kurt, how's it –'

But before he could finish his sentence, Kurt seized him by the tie and pulled him forward, pressing their lips together briefly. He felt Blaine begin to respond to the kiss, but at the exact moment he did, Kurt pulled away.

'Hmm, no, I don't think that's how the kiss should go.' Kurt mused as he pulled away, leaving a dazed Blaine behind. He smirked at his own daring – yesterday he would have freaked out at the idea of kissing Blaine, and now he was instigating kisses in random places around the school. Rachel would be so proud of him.

He was done filming for the day, and decided to go get his bag to go home. Filming was getting more and more exhausting, and he had so much schoolwork to catch up on. He wandered back to the cafeteria and ran into Meredith.

'You.' she hissed when she saw him. Kurt raised an eyebrow, looking unfazed.

'Hello, Meredith.'

'Don't you 'hello Meredith' me, you little queer.' she snapped. Kurt was mildly offended at her use of the word 'queer' but decided to humour her.

'Right. So um, who sprinkled bitch into your cereal this morning?' he asked, folding his arms across his chest. She rolled her eyes at the comment and tossed her hair behind her shoulders.

'I would give up on Blaine, if I were you,' she warned, her voice full of threat. Kurt let out a shallow laugh.

'Wow, if there was anything to give up on, I certainly would.' he replied, 'thanks for the tip!'

'I'm serious.' she narrowed her eyes, 'don't think for a moment I don't know what's going on between you two. I won't have you turn Blaine into a… a _faggot_ when there's still something between me and him!'

Kurt scoffed. He was getting a little more than annoyed at her insults and his patience was running thin. He just wanted to get his bag and go home.

'Something between you and Blaine?' he repeated, 'apart from pure hatred, and a lot of disgust on his part?'

'If you don't see what we have, you're blind.' Meredith retorted, 'just get it into your over styled head that you're not good enough for him and that he _doesn't want you_, okay? Stop wasting your time. You look pathetic.'

'I don't even know what you're talking about.' Kurt replied coolly, 'maybe you should stop being such a bitch.'

Meredith looked at him for a moment, and then her expression darkened.

'I know what you two have been up to,' she told him, and Kurt actually felt a little threatened, 'and I will _not _hesitate to go to the press about it. Believe me, I will ruin _both _of you. Unless you two are onscreen, _stay. Away._'

With that, she brushed past Kurt and walked out of the cafeteria. Kurt spun around and stared after her, her words resonating in his mind.

_How could she possibly know? _he thought, now extremely worried, _I mean, we weren't _that _careful in the corridors, but I'm sure there was no one around._

He quickly found his bag and bid a quick goodbye to the crew around him, feeling rather frazzled. He had always been suspicious of Meredith – but she was dangerous, and she was someone he didn't want to cross. For all he knew, she would stick to her word and exploit Kurt and Blaine's 'practice' to the media.

While he was walking to his car, he met Blaine, who had also decided to either go home for the night, wherever that might have been, or was just leaving Dalton for a while. The car park was deserted, and the sun was low in the sky, and Blaine smiled at Kurt suggestively.

'So…' he started, walking to Kurt's car with him and leaning against it, 'how about we get a little more practice in until next time?'

He leaned in to kiss Kurt, but Kurt, remembering Meredith's words, gently placed his hand on Blaine's chest and pushed him away. Blaine looked rather confused and hurt, but Kurt simply shook his head.

'Not here,' he told him, 'you don't know who could be watching. And practice? Blaine, I don't know who we're trying to kid. I'll see you later.'

He unlocked his car and slid into it. Blaine stepped away, and Kurt could see that he still looked a little upset. With a sigh, he started the car and drove away, feeling horribly guilty for having to do this to Blaine. But it was for the best, right? He didn't want Blaine's career to be jeopardized by their little 'practice' sessions. He wanted more than anything to just throw Meredith out the window, but he knew it was best to just steer clear of her and not provoke her.

* * *

The first thing he did when he got back to Lima was invite Rachel over. Heavens knew that he needed someone to gossip with, and because Mercedes was swamped studying for a test, he knew it had to be Rachel.

She was over in a flash, already in her pyjamas and holding a stack of DVDs for them to watch. They settled downstairs in Kurt's room before he began to unwind and tell her about his day.

When he told her about the kiss, she practically screamed, causing Burt to poke his head through the door and ask them to settle down. Once he had left, she turned to him, her eyes wide with excitement.

'You kissed Blaine Anderson?' she squealed, 'that's so… oh my god, Kurt!'

'Oh, we kissed, alright,' Kurt replied, unbuttoning a few buttons on his pyjama so that he could pull his collar down and show her the dark hickey on his neck. Her eyes grew even wider and her mouth dropped open.

'Oh my god, Kurt, that _wasn't_ practice.'

'I'm starting to think it wasn't,' Kurt admitted, 'and it's weird, because after we kissed, and _god_, did we kiss, I told him that I didn't think the scene was meant to go like that and he got so… upset. And then _afterwards_ he came up to me and just kissed me in the middle of the hallway, claiming that we had to get the kiss just right or something. I don't even know. But he's _so _confusing.'

'You kissed Blaine _twice_?' Rachel gasped, 'oh come on, you two are so into each other.'

'We actually kissed three times,' Kurt corrected her, blushing faintly and doing the buttons on his shirt back up, 'and the third time, _I _kissed _him_.'

'Kurt Hummel, you bad boy.' Rachel grinned, winking at him, 'how did that happen?'

'Oh, I was sick of him trying to play games with me, so I kissed him and walked away.'

'I like what this acting thing has done for you.' Rachel told him, 'it's pulled you out of your shell. I mean, I don't think I could have seen you kissing anyone before, but now that you mention it, it's sassy. Just like you.'

'Thanks, Rachel,' Kurt smiled at her, 'oh! But then…'

He told her the story of Meredith, and her threat to him. Rachel frowned whilst listening to it, as though deep in thought.

'Are you sure she was referring to the kiss?' she asked, 'she could just be talking about you and Blaine hanging out or whatever, she probably considers that sacrilegious or whatever.'

'No, no, I'm _sure_ she meant the kissing,' Kurt replied thoughtfully, 'otherwise, wouldn't she have brought it up before? Man, I hate her. She's so slippery.'

'And completely jealous,' Rachel added, 'come on, Kurt. She has no solid evidence of anything you and Blaine could be doing. So why not just flaunt it in her face? I mean, by the looks of it, Blaine hates her and he definitely does _not _hate you, so why not rub it in her face a little bit?'

'I could…' Kurt replied, 'but then again, I don't want to make her angry. What if she _does _have solid evidence?'

'Because if she did, do you think she would hesitate to leak it?' Rachel replied, scoffing, 'come on. She's horrible. And besides, anything she 'leaks' could just be passed off as rehearsing anyway. It's not like anyone would believe you two were in a relationship or anything.'

Kurt raised his eyebrow at her, feeling slightly offended at the comment. She seemed to notice and she looked uncomfortable.

'I mean, it's not like there's no chance of you two being in a relationship,' she explained hurriedly, 'it's just that a majority of the people think Blaine is straight, and seeing as there _are _intimate scenes in this film, there _would _have to be some practice, right?'

'Right,' Kurt agreed, knowing that she hadn't meant to offend him, 'that's true. So… you think I should try make Meredith jealous?'

'Definitely.' Rachel smirked, 'whenever you two have a music lesson or whatever, just go crazy. Who cares? It's Meredith. I'll bet you could ruin her in half the time it takes her to ruin you and Blaine.'

Kurt had always considered himself a bitchy person – it was in his nature, more as a defence mechanism than anything else. But there were times where it really came in handy – such as being able to completely enrage Meredith without the slightest bit of remorse. Rachel was completely right, he figured; if Meredith was going to be a complete cow to him, it was about time he was one back.

Because as his father liked to say - no one messed with the Hummels.

* * *

**Because this is probably the busiest week I've had all year, I'm so sorry about the quality of my updates. I hope you guys will stick with me through them, because hopefully I'll be back to producing something of mild quality sooner or later. I'm actually sort of ashamed of the shit I've been spewing out these days. I just have to get through this week and hopefully it'll all go back to normal, so again, I'm really, really sorry.**


	16. Chapter 16

The following night, Simon paid a visit to the Hummel-Hudson household just as they were sitting down to dinner.

It wasn't as though it was a usual occurrence to have him drop in – he'd only visited once before – but despite his confusion, Kurt welcomed him into his home warmly. He was rather fond of Simon at this point; he felt more like family than a director, and he was a great mentor. He led him into the dining room.

'We have company,' he announced to his parents and Finn, who had been waiting for Kurt to arrive before starting on their meals. Simon looked suddenly bashful.

'I'm sorry for intruding,' he apologized, 'I can come back another day if this isn't convenient.'

'No, don't be silly,' Carole beamed at him, 'why don't you sit down and have dinner with us? I'll get another plate from the kitchen.'

Simon looked as though he was about to refuse, but Kurt had already walked to the other side of the table and pulled a chair out for Simon to sit in. He looked uncomfortable for a moment more, but he went and sat down, just as Carole returned with a plate. She set it down in front of him and sat back down in her spot. Simon suddenly felt the people at the table turn their attention to him.

'Well… aren't you going to eat, dude?' Finn asked after a moment, 'because if you don't want it…'

'Quiet, Finn,' Carole scolded, 'would you like some lasagne, Simon?'

Simon smiled weakly at her and handed his plate over, and she heaped a large serving onto his plate. He thanked her meekly, and Kurt couldn't help but notice that he acted strangely in the company of families.

'So, Simon,' Burt shifted in his chair as Simon helped himself to salad from a large bowl, 'what brings you here?'

'Um, I was hoping to discuss taking Kurt out of school to New York,' he replied, coving his mouth with his hand as he had been chewing, 'there's a lot we have to organize, including how he'll finish the school year. I mean, there shouldn't be a huge problem – he's obviously bright and only a few months off graduating, but it's best that we figure this out now.'

Kurt's ears pricked up at the sound of New York. He couldn't even express how excited he was to actually go there and see the sights and hopefully even see something on Broadway. He didn't care how much school work he had to do – it would all be worth it, even for a week or two.

'Kurt has a few options,' Simon started, setting his fork down, 'this is delicious, by the way, Carole. Anyway, he can come back next year and graduate – he'll only have to go for a few months. Or he can do it by correspondence, which I think will be the easier option for everyone involved.'

'And uh, New York – how long are they going there for?' Burt asked, 'and how can I be sure that my boy will be safe there? Do we have to come along or will –?'

'Dad,' Kurt protested, 'you guys can't come.'

'Why not, Kurt?' Carole asked, 'I think it would be fun.'

'Because someone needs to run the shop and Finn has school,' Kurt replied quickly, 'besides, it's not like it's a _holiday_. I'll be going for _business_.'

'Business.' Burt snorted, 'okay.'

'Your son will be protected at all times, of course,' Simon told him, 'we take standard protocol when it comes to these things. They won't go out in public without someone to accompany them and they'll be staying in top-notch accommodation where we're familiar with the security and staff. We'd never let any harm come to _any _of our cast. Or crew, for that matter.'

'Okay…' Burt nodded slowly, 'I'm sure there's more I have to go over.'

'Contracts and stuff you have to look over.' Simon shrugged, 'it's not that complex, especially now that Kurt is legally an adult, it makes it a whole less complicated for you.'

'When is Kurt leaving?' Carole asked, sounding slightly teary. Kurt looked over to her to see that her eyes were oddly bright and he felt a rush of affection for her; he knew that he would miss her while she was gone. She and Finn had fitted into their little family so well; it was almost natural to him.

'Um… I'd say by the end of next week; shooting is going well at Dalton and we're almost ready to move on.'

'The end of next week?' Kurt repeated, feeling a little thrill of excitement shoot through him, 'that's so soon!'

He couldn't believe he was getting out of Lima already. He was always a little scared that he would be stuck here for the rest of his life, but he was getting away from this place – away from the judgement and the homophobia and he ignorance. He could have cried.

'Yeah, time flies, doesn't it,' Simon smiled, 'which reminds me, you have an interview next week. A television morning show or something, with Blaine.'

The thought of being on a television morning show was enough to quell Kurt's excitement and replace it with nerves. He already received too much attention from people at school – and it had been mostly negative. He didn't know what lay beyond the borders of Ohio, or what kind of abuse it could bring. He figured he would just let Blaine do all the talking, and he would only talk when prompted and he would be fine.

They finished their dinner talking about various aspects of the film – the Hummel-Hudsons were, of course, not allowed to discuss the details with anyone, which made Kurt feel slightly guilty about reading the script with Rachel and Mercedes when he got it, but he knew they hadn't told anyone about it at least, otherwise details would be everywhere.

He helped Carole clear the table while Burt and Simon went into the living room to talk. He could hear them talking about legalities and so forth, and it didn't really interest him, but it did take them quite a while. The dishes were washed and the kitchen was spotless by the time they had finished talking. Eventually, Simon stood up and shook Burt's hand, a sign that their conversation was probably over. Kurt chose then to go back into the living room to say goodbye. Simon shifted from foot to foot for a moment before clearing his throat.

'Um, can I talk to you, Kurt?' he asked after a moment, 'privately, perhaps?'

Burt looked on, an odd expression on his face, and Kurt nodded, gesturing for Simon to follow him. He figured they couldn't get more private than Kurt's own bedroom, so he took it down there. Simon chuckled once he saw the poster of Blaine above Kurt's bed – something Kurt had forgotten about _again_, but Simon didn't seem fazed.

'It would explain the wallpaper on Blaine's phone.' he commented, perching himself on the desk chair, 'alright, Kurt, I need to ask you something, and I would appreciate your honesty.'

'Alright…' Kurt sat down on the edge of his bed, feeling slightly nervous. He didn't know what he could have done to upset Simon. He didn't think he'd done anything to warrant being in trouble.

'Alright…' Simon exhaled and looked directly at Kurt, his pale eyes penetrating him, 'what is going on with you and Blaine?'

'With me and Blaine?' Kurt repeated, resisting the urge to laugh, 'apart from a highly confusing friendship, not much.'

'Really, Kurt,' Simon insisted, 'I've known Blaine for a pretty long time – I might be able to help.'

Kurt sighed and found himself recounting everything that happened between him and Blaine, from that first dinner to the kisses and how he was confused about the whole ordeal. To his surprise, Simon was smiling by the end of the story.

'I don't see how this is amusing.' Kurt frowned, after he'd finished. He chose to omit the part about avoiding Blaine because Meredith was threatening him – he didn't want to get anyone in trouble just yet. Besides, Meredith was an obstacle he wanted to deal with himself.

'I'm more proud than amused,' Simon replied, still smiling, 'he's making a lot of progress lately.'

'Progress?' Kurt scoffed, 'really?'

'Honestly, Kurt, even when you first met him – what were the odds of him kissing a boy for no reason _off _the screen?'

'Well, we were practicing.' Kurt reasoned.

'You were not practicing.' Simon replied, sounding slightly impatient, 'and I think he's starting to realize that too. Which could only be a good thing.'

'I don't think anything will come of it,' Kurt admitted, 'sure, maybe in a few years Blaine will realize and accept that he likes boys but he definitely isn't interested in me.'

He sounded slightly disheartened and Simon noticed it at once. He bit his lip.

'You know what, I wouldn't say that.' he told Kurt, 'he hasn't shown any interest in anyone since Daniel and now he's showing a lot of interest in you – so you never know, Kurt. You're a good kid. Blaine knows that. Keep your head up.'

Kurt smiled at him and Simon stood.

'So, you two are okay then?' he asked.

'Definitely,' Kurt nodded, standing too, 'we're fine. I don't see why we wouldn't be.'

'Just making sure.' Simon smiled, 'if anything, you two look beautiful on camera together. I can't wait to get to the nitty gritty scenes of the film.'

'Don't we all,' Kurt replied, exhaling, 'well, I won't keep you anymore if you don't want to stay.'

'The road to Lima is long and the night is wearing on,' Simon announced, 'thanks for your hospitality tonight.'

'Oh yeah – I noticed that. You didn't look too… comfortable having dinner with us. Was that okay?' Kurt asked slowly, not wanting to offend Simon. Simon gave him an odd sort of smile.

'Yeah… I… I don't know,' he shrugged, 'I grew up in a trailer eating half-frozen TV dinners. When I saw your whole family around the table like that… I don't know. It was practically everything I wanted as a kid. I was shocked to be so accepted.'

Kurt laid a reassuring hand on Simon's shoulder.

'If it helps at all,' he told him, 'it took us a while to get here, too. It was just me and dad for about ten years until Carole and Finn came along.'

There was a small silence and Simon nodded after a moment.

'We're fighters, you and I,' he told him, smiling fondly, 'that's why I'm not worried about you for any of this filming business. You take things so well. Blaine, too. He's a very tough kid.'

'Is he?' Kurt asked, walking Simon upstairs.

'He's been through… a lot. Maybe one day he'll be ready to share that with you.'

Kurt pondered this for a while, long after he'd said goodbye to Simon. He knew that Blaine was struggling with his sexuality, but apart from that, he didn't know too much about his personal life. It seemed like it was a touchy subject with Blaine, and he'd always liked hearing about Kurt's childhood stories. He made a note to bring it up one day and see if Blaine would talk about it.

It was getting rather late, so he started getting ready for bed. After a while, there was a knock at the door upstairs. Kurt ignored it, figuring someone else would get it, and went into his room to Skype Rachel before he went to sleep. A moment later, however, Carole popped her head through the door. She looked more than a little worried, though she tried to smile as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

'You're certainly popular tonight, honey,' she commented, 'there's someone upstairs who wants to see you.'

Kurt shut his laptop, confused, and followed Carole upstairs. She left him in the hallway, muttering under her breath. Kurt thought he caught the words _'poor dear' _but he couldn't be sure.

He went to the front door, which was oddly shut. Usually if he had visitors, Burt or Carole would at least invite them in.

When he opened the door, he was more than a little shocked to see Blaine standing there, and he was absolutely aghast to see him in the state that he was in.

He looked as though he had been crying for hours – his eyes were rimmed red and bright and his cheeks were streaky. He sniffled occasionally, and his hair was a little messy. But what stood out about the whole thing was the very red welt on his cheek, turning purple around the edges, in the very clear shape of a hand or first. Kurt's mouth dropped open when he saw him, and he pulled the door wide open and practically dragged Blaine into the house.

'Blaine – what happened to you?' he asked incredulously, 'were you attacked?'

'I –' Blaine voice cracked and he ducked his head. Kurt heard him chuckle bitterly and after a moment he looked up, now looking more determined, 'no, actually.'

'What happened?' Kurt asked softly, his hand finding Blaine's. He didn't even realize he was reaching for his hand until Blaine's fingers tightened around his fingers, holding on tight.

'I went to visit my parents.' he told Kurt, smiling bitterly, 'and um… this is what happened.'

Kurt's mouth dropped open again. Blaine's parents had hurt him. He couldn't imagine Burt raising his voice at him, let alone raising a hand against him. He squeezed Blaine's hand, prompting him to go on.

'So um, I went for a visit,' Blaine explained, his voice breaking occasionally, 'which – which never goes well, but I thought I would at least _try_… but uh, yeah. It escalated, and Dalton would have been closed and I… I didn't know where else to go so I thought maybe…'

Kurt knew what Blaine was alluding to, and he nodded immediately.

'Of course,' he assured him, 'you can stay here, that's completely fine.'

'Are – are you sure your parents will be okay with it?' Blaine asked meekly. Kurt nodded firmly.

'Carole's seen you,' he replied, 'she probably expected it. No, they'll be fine. Even if they're not, you need help. Come downstairs, I'll see if I've got something that can fit you. You can stay in my room.'

* * *

**Poor Blaine. :( Not everything is great in Blaineland. He has a pretty broken relationship with his parents and hopefully we'll get to explore that within the next few chapters.**

**This is a little longer than the last two, I think, but I wrote this while studying for the tests I have tomorrow. I'm moderately sure I'm going to be writing Klaine as answers to my legal but whatever – no shame!**

**Let me know what you thought about this and as usual, I'll have the next chapter out ASAP. Maybe tomorrow, but maybe the day after. But probably tomorrow. Please be patient with me this week, and the days I'm performing next week. I'll try get things out – I think I'm doing an okay job considering all I have going on, but don't hesitate to tell me to hurry up. :) **

**I love all of you!**

**Oh and thank you so much for the supportive reviews and messages you guys have been sending. I'm so grateful to have you all out there looking out for me, and from the bottom of my heart, I love and thank all of you. You mean the world to me. xxx **


	17. Chapter 17

'Are you okay… talking about it?'

Kurt and Blaine sat across from each other on Kurt's bed, both clutching a cup of hot chocolate in their hands. Blaine looked decidedly sorry for himself, wrapped in one of Kurt's blankets, tracing his finger around the rim of his mug.

'I… yeah, I guess, if you want to talk about it.' Blaine replied quietly. Kurt sighed.

'No, not if _I _want to talk about it,' he corrected, 'if _you_ want to talk about it, Blaine. You know you can – especially with me.'

Blaine was silent for a while, staring into his cup, avoiding Kurt's concerned gaze. He exhaled shakily.

'I don't get along well with my parents,' he started after a moment, his voice still quiet 'well; I don't get along with my dad. Mum is… mum. She's quiet. She just… sides so that peace is kept.'

He glanced up at Kurt, who remained silent, but tried to look supportive. Blaine took a sip of his hot chocolate and went on.

'I decided to go home because… I don't know. Why not? Why should I be afraid to go to my own _home_? It was okay for a while and then…'

Blaine sighed, and ran his hand through his already unkempt hair.

'We were having dinner, him and mom and me,' he continued, 'and mom asked about the movie, which was apparently the wrong thing to say, because I could see my dad was getting really annoyed by it. So he asked about college. Like he always does.'

Blaine narrowed his eyes at his mug and pressed a hand against the welt on his cheek.

'And I told him I wasn't planning on it yet. I mean, I've finished high school early because of the correspondence thing, but I have no time to actually go to college. I mean, maybe one day, but I would major in music or something, not law like he wants me to. So I told him… no. No, I was too busy for college – I mean, what is wrong with him; I'm not even that old. There's plenty of time for college. But of course, he got angry.

'See, the thing about my dad is that he has this big plan for everyone – how his life is meant to go, how my mom is meant to 'behave', what I'm meant to be doing with my life. Film is the last thing he wanted me to do. But… I don't know, I love performing – I don't really care what he says. So he started going on about how it's not a stable career and nothing would come out of it and I got a little snarky and told him I could pay for college for the rest of my life without his help from doing movies…'

Kurt cocked his head to the side and bit his lip – by the way Blaine's voice had begun to break, he could tell he was getting to the upsetting part of his story.

'So he started yelling. He got up from the table and stormed around, yelling about how I was ungrateful and it didn't matter how many films I had done, I'd always be useless and talentless and worthless and mom was sitting there quietly and she just let it go on and I lost my temper.

'So I started yelling back, yelling about how he'd never even treated me like a son and whatever he said didn't matter because he was just as pathetic as he made me out to be and I was sick of him treating me like shit.'

He set his hot chocolate down on Kurt's bedside table and pulled the blanket up to his chin, staring at the black and white pattern of Kurt's bed.

'So he walked up to me and he pushed me and 'dared' me to repeat myself. And – and I don't know, before I'd usually just shut up at that point, but I pushed him. I shouldn't have, and it's my fault –'

'Blaine, none of this is your fault,' Kurt told him quietly, reaching out and placing his hand on Blaine's knee. Blaine looked up at him and offered a small smile, the bruise on his face highlighted by the light of the lamp. Blaine untangled one of his hands from the blanket and, to Kurt's surprise, placed it over his.

'He pushed me. I pushed back. He yelled, and I yelled, and he yelled more, and then mid-yell he just snapped and pushed me into the table. Mom yelled then, too, but it was more in shock than anything else. And then he…'

He released Kurt's hand and waved it in the general direction of his bruise, and Kurt nodded gravely. Again, he couldn't imagine Burt ever hitting him. Burt had never ever come close to hitting him in his life, no matter what he'd done wrong.

'Oh Blaine,' Kurt sighed sadly, and Blaine placed his hand back over Kurt's, "I'm so sorry.'

'It's not the first time, either,' Blaine told him, laughing bitterly, 'normally when people ask me about my home life I say I have a mother and a father and I don't see them often because I film a lot. That's it. But my dad… he's violent. He's always been violent. To me… to mom. Always. And… and I don't tell people that because… why should I? I'm Blaine Anderson, the actor with the perfect life, all the fame and the glory and the fans. You know, how could I have a bad personal life?'

'That's… no one expects that, Blaine…' Kurt told him, feeling helpless. Blaine smiled weakly at him.

'Oh, but they do. I'm all smiling on camera, and that's what people assume my life is like. I have to put on an act because who on earth would even consider watching a film or an interview with a celebrity who bitches about his personal life?'

Blaine sighed, and ran his hands through his hair again.

'It's harder than you'd think,' he told Kurt, 'and I sincerely hope you have the courage to be honest about your past, because I certainly don't.'

Kurt felt rather touched that Blaine was opening up to him, but the violence in his family still concerned him more than anything else.

'Has your dad ever… um… seriously hurt you?' he asked softly, 'like, I mean, not that him hitting you isn't serious but…'

'No, no, it's okay,' Blaine assured him, 'I… once when I was a kid, he threw me against a wall and I had a concussion. Um… he used to use a belt, he'd hit me until I couldn't walk properly for days… and –'

He started to choke up and he dragged his hand across his eyes to stem the tears that had sprung up.

'I'm sorry. I –'

'No, Blaine, don't be,' Kurt set his cup on the floor quickly and pulled Blaine into his arms, feeling the boy begin to shake, 'it's okay, Blaine. It's alright.'

Blaine squeezed his eyes shut, but it didn't stop the tears from running down his face. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and tried to hold it back, not wanting to cry in front of Kurt.

Kurt sensed this and drew back, looking at Blaine straight in the eye, a determined expression on his face.

'Blaine Anderson, don't even think about holding back right now.' he told him firmly, 'do not even think about being embarrassed to cry in front of me. We are sitting in my bedroom, in pyjamas, under a huge poster of _you_. Alright, if anyone should be embarrassed, it's me. My hair is a mess and I'm sleepy and I probably look horrible right now, so don't even think about being embarrassed, okay?'

Blaine let out a watery laugh and a few tears ran down his face. Kurt felt his own eyes being to blur with tears.

'I don't like crying in front of people.' Blaine admitted.

'Neither,' Kurt chuckled, wiping his eyes, 'look at us. But it's good sometimes, you know. You have every right to cry right now.'

'You know what, Kurt Hummel? You're fantastic.' Blaine told him, and Kurt felt his heart skip a little.

'You're not so bad yourself, Mr. Anderson.' Kurt replied, a grin stretching across his face.

There was a moment of silence, neither boy knowing quite what to say to one another. They avoided each other's gazes, but they both snuck glances at one another. Kurt felt so sorry for Blaine, but he also admired him for being so resilient. After a while, Blaine broke the silence.

'My face hurts,' Blaine sighed, though he was smiling slightly. He wiped his eyes again.

'Here, let me see,' Kurt requested, scooting forward on the bed. Blaine turned his cheek so that Kurt could see the bruise more clearly. It was becoming darker as time wore on, and was now an ugly purple colour. Kurt raised his hand and traced the bruise with his fingertips delicately.

Blaine was staring at him, an odd expression on his face. He was studying Kurt's face carefully. Kurt swallowed hard, suddenly feeling something there that wasn't there a moment earlier. He could feel Blaine move closer to him, and pretty soon he was leaning into Kurt's cheek, almost as though he was waiting. Kurt felt himself drawn to Blaine as though a magnet was pulling him; he leaned in slowly and a moment later Kurt's lips pressed against Blaine's.

The kiss was brief – it took all of Kurt's restrain to not melt into Blaine then and there, but he remembered that they were _alone_ in his room, and Blaine had just been through something traumatising. This wasn't what he needed. He drew back, suddenly unsure that he'd done the right thing. But when he looked at Blaine, Blaine was looking right at him, a hint of disappointment on his face.

'You didn't have to stop.' he told him softly.

'Oh, Blaine,' Kurt sighed, pressing his face into his hands, 'who are we kidding? We can't do this. This isn't 'practice'.'

'It doesn't have to be,' Blaine replied, his voice still quiet, 'what if it isn't practice?'

Kurt looked up, 'this isn't what you need right now.'

'Isn't it? Don't you think right now, of all things, I need to feel like someone needs me?' he asked. Kurt's face fell at his words – of course Kurt _needed_ Blaine. He just needed Blaine in a different way to how Blaine needed him. Blaine sighed.

'It's okay,' he assured him, 'we – we don't have to do anything like that. I – I appreciate you letting me stay here.'

'Blaine…' Kurt started, but trailed off. He didn't know what to say.

'Don't worry about it, alright?' Blaine smiled weakly, 'you've done more than enough for me. I just thought that –'

Kurt could feel that Blaine was about to start rambling, so he resisted the urge to roll his eyes and shut him up the only way he knew how – by leaning forward and kissing him again.

This time Blaine responded a lot quicker. He pulled Kurt closer and flipped them over so that he was hovering over Kurt, kissing him deeply. Kurt could feel his heart beating hard in his chest and the strange sensation of the world stopping around him as Blaine kissed him. They kissed lazily for a few moments before Blaine pulled away, kissed him soundly once more, and then dropped his head on Kurt's chest.

'Your heart is going crazy.' he commented lightly, and Kurt could hear the smile in his voice.

'So is yours.' he replied, feeling Blaine's heart beat against his own. He wrapped his arms around Blaine's back and Blaine nuzzled his chest. After a few moments, Kurt spoke up, 'Blaine, what are we?'

Blaine was silent for a few moments, and Kurt was a little nervous as to what his reply would be. Eventually, he sighed.

'I don't know, Kurt.'

Kurt couldn't deny that the answer was a little hurtful, but he couldn't expect much from Blaine, especially not right now. It wouldn't be fair. But still, he was curious, and he figured that he deserved answers. He didn't want him and Blaine to just have some stupid friends with benefits relationship; especially since his feelings for Blaine were growing stronger as each day passed. He wanted to know that he had some chance, because if he didn't have anything to hold on to, he might as well just start getting over him now.

'Still not gay then?'

'I don't _know_, Kurt.' and this time, Blaine sounded rather hurt. Kurt sighed and made to sit up, pushing Blaine off his chest gently. Blaine looked rather upset, and Kurt felt sorry for pushing him on tonight of all nights.

'I'm sorry, alright?' he apologized, 'but… I just want some clarity on what's going on here. Friends don't kiss friends like that. _Straight _friends don't kiss their _gay_ friends like that and expect them to think nothing of it.'

'I'm sorry if you think I'm leading you on.' Blaine apologized quietly, 'but this is hard for me, alright? I – I promise, one night I'll take you out to dinner, and we'll talk about it, alright? But tonight… can we not? Please?'

Kurt figured that it was a reasonable request, and the prospect of another dinner with Blaine was exciting. He nodded and Blaine smiled at him, leaning forward to kiss him gently.

'I'm so tired.' he yawned a second later.

'Do you want to sleep?' Kurt glanced at the clock, seeing it was past midnight, 'it's getting pretty late and I assume you're driving back in the morning?'

'I guess so, yeah,' he shrugged, 'unless you don't mind me staying for breakfast.'

'No, Blaine, you can't stay,' Kurt rolled his eyes, 'you can also sleep in the backyard tonight.'

Blaine chuckled, and then looked mildly confused.

'So where am I sleeping tonight?' he asked.

Kurt felt himself blush, and he was glad that Blaine probably couldn't see it in the lamplight.

'Well, you can sleep in my bed,' he replied, trying to sound nonchalant, 'with um, me. If that's okay with you.'

Blaine looked thoughtful for a moment, and he smiled at Kurt.

'You know what, that's more than okay,' he told him, 'I – I think I just need some comfort tonight.'

Kurt smiled at him and got under the covers of his bed, patting the spot next to him. A moment later, Blaine was under the covers too, and Kurt switched off the light. They both lay on their backs, unsure of what to do next.

'So um… how does this work?' Blaine asked. Kurt blushed again, now definitely glad Blaine couldn't see.

'Well, you did spoon me that one time we got drunk.' he replied, 'so um, however you want, I guess.'

'Uh…' Blaine trailed off. It was a lot more awkward in the dark. There was a gentle stream of moonlight flooding the room, and Kurt rolled over onto his side so he could at least see Blaine. He looked a lot more peaceful in the moonlight, staring up at the ceiling. When he noticed Kurt staring at him, he rolled over so that they were looking at each other.

'This is nice,' Blaine commented a moment later, not taking his eyes off Kurt, 'but you know what…'

He reached out and pulled Kurt closer to him, leaving his arm draped around Kurt's waist. He rolled onto his back, pulling Kurt with him so that Kurt's head lay on his chest, though he still kept his arms wrapped around him. He nuzzled his head into Kurt's hair.

'Mm, much better,' he murmured sleepily. Kurt could feel Blaine's steady heartbeat and it began to lull him to sleep. He could tell that Blaine was a sleep mere moments later – his breathing had levelled out and he wasn't saying anything else. Kurt took advantage of the silence to appreciate where he was – in bed with an amazing boy, who he was sure was starting to develop _some _sort of feelings for him. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be here with him, wouldn't he?

Not to mention he had kissed him til he was breathless not even a half hour ago.

With that very satisfying thought, he snuggled up to Blaine and closed his eyes, letting sleep take him.

* * *

**I had to write something moderately cute because I just had what is possibly the worst night of the year in what has been the worst week of the year. Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, huh? Hah. **

**But on a brighter note, this chapter is longer than the others, which means I'm getting back into my groove! One of my teachers is an absolute gem and saw I'm not doing too well so he rescheduled one of my tests for me. You know, it's people like that that make me smile – especially teachers, because it's really obvious they care about their students, and that in itself is really inspiring. It's so Will Schuester. **

**So let me know what you thought about this and I will have your new chapter tomorrow. I'll give you a hint – it involves Rachel! Yay, don't we just love Rachel? **

**And possibly Meredith. ;) But you know, I'm not giving anything away.**

**Love you guys! Thank you for being so supportive and for all your kind words and wishes lately, you don't know how much it's helped. See you tomorrow! **


	18. Chapter 18

Blaine woke before Kurt when morning came, memories of the night flooding back. He could vividly remember his father striking him, finding solace at the Hummel-Hudson household; most especially in Kurt's arms. He could remember everything about the kissed they'd shared; the way their lips moved slowly together, the feeling of Kurt's breath against his cheek and neck, the way his eyes glowed with emotion under the lamplight. His stomach churned at the vision, and he could feel his breath catch in his throat. He became painfully conscious of the arms wrapped around his body, holding him close. He turned his head to glace at the clock; it was barely past five in the morning. He had plenty of time before Kurt woke up. Maybe he could quit the film. Run from his feelings.

Maybe he could forget all about Kurt and what he was doing to him.

But as he considered this, he freed one of his arms from where he had become so hopelessly entangled around Kurt and found himself tracing the boy's hairline, the angle of his jaw, the edges of the lips that had kissed him into oblivion mere hours ago.

_What are you doing, Blaine? _he chastised himself mentally, trying to tear his hand away from Kurt's hand. But his hand betrayed him, and dipped to follow the smooth skin of Kurt's throat, running along it gently, almost in amazement of the boy breathing gently beneath his fingertips. Kurt didn't stir; his breathing was even and slow, and he sighed contentedly now and then. Blaine paused his movements, really watching Kurt now.

_This is a boy,_ _Blaine, _he thought, _a boy. This isn't a girl. This is Kurt._

And his hand dropped lower still to rest on Kurt's chest, feeling his chest rise and fall gently as he slept.

_This is a boy, _he thought with finality, watching the soft light in the room play across Kurt's features, _and this boy is art._

* * *

Kurt woke up a few hours later, feeling something heavy on his chest. He opened his eyes groggily and was met with a mess of curly dark hair. He jolted, shocked, before he remembered that Blaine had stayed over the night before.

He smiled at the mass of curls, resisting the urge to pull them.

He glanced at the clock and saw it was a little before nine, so he figured now would be a good time to wake up, eat, and then see what he had to do for the rest of the day.

'Blaaaaaaaaine.' he nudged Blaine gently, trying to make the boy wake up. Blaine groaned in his sleep and nuzzled his face in Kurt's chest, 'Blaine, you need to wake up.'

Blaine groaned again, but cracked an eye open.

'No.'

Kurt chuckled, 'Blaine, come on. It's almost nine.'

'It's Sunday.' Blaine moaned, 'people sleep on Sundays. Uphold the Sabbath. Don't make me get up.'

'Don't you have to go back to Westerville?' Kurt asked, struggling into a sitting position. As he moved, he disturbed Blaine, who grumbled and rolled over so that he was face down on the mattress next to Kurt.

'No. I don't want to go back today.'

'You're so lazy.' Kurt commented, 'so what do you want to do today?'

'Stay here. With you.'

Kurt's eyes widened and he looked down at Blaine, who was still face planted into the mattress. He chuckled, though his heart was doing flip flops.

'Well, if you want to spend time with me you should probably start by looking at me, and not the mattress.'

Blaine rolled over, but it took him a minute. When he was face up, Kurt was startled by how dark the bruise had gotten. Blaine seemed to have forgotten about it though, and he rubbed his eyes and sat up.

'Do you mind if I have a shower?' he asked, 'I feel horrid.'

'Be my guest,' Kurt replied, 'there are towels and stuff in there.'

Blaine smiled at Kurt, wincing as it hurt his face, and got off the bed, shuffling sleepily into the bathroom next door and shutting the door behind him. A moment later, the shower started, and Kurt found himself staring at the door.

Because Blaine was showering. In his shower.

He would never wash his shower again.

He found himself unable to look away, and quickly glanced in a different direction once Blaine had emerged. Blaine shot him a strange look, and Kurt smiled weakly at him, only then realizing he was only in a towel.

'I don't know what to wear.' he shrugged, apparently unfazed that he was all but naked in the middle of Kurt's room.

It's not like Kurt had never seen Blaine shirtless before – as perverted as it sounded, Google offered a lot, and he and Rachel had giggled girlishly over a lot of his photo shoots before, but it was nothing compared to seeing the tanned, toned flesh before him, glinting under the water, his body angled and chiselled perfectly in every way. Kurt watched a drop of water slide down Blaine's chest for a moment before he could even think of answering.

'Um… my wardrobe is free.' he replied absently, 'I'm going to go have a shower. I'll probably be a while.'

He hopped off his bed and into the bathroom, and as he passed Blaine, he could have sworn he saw him smirk proudly.

When Kurt emerged from the bathroom almost an hour later, after meticulously styling his hair and trying not to lose his cool around Blaine the moment he went back into his bedroom, he was met with a rather surprising sight.

The bed had been made and there were two trays on it, each containing a stack of pancakes, a coffee, some orange juice, toast, bacon and eggs. Blaine sat on one side, not having touched his food yet, wearing his own jeans and one of Kurt's sweaters.

'Hi,' he smiled, looking rather pleased with himself, 'I hope you're hungry.'

'You made all this?' Kurt asked, his mouth dropping open slightly. Blaine's smile widened and he patted the bed next to him.

'I figured we could eat and watch something on television. Maybe a movie or something?'

'You didn't have to make breakfast… especially so much… wow. Thanks.'

Kurt beamed at him and went to sit down on the bed next to Blaine, flipping on the television as he went.

He was surprised that Blaine could cook. It didn't seem like something he did, but he was sold as soon as he took the first bite of the pancakes.

'This is fantastic!' he exclaimed, 'where'd you learn to cook?'

'I get sick of eating out when I film,' Blaine shrugged, taking a bite of his toast, 'so I learnt how to cook some things so I could… I don't know. Too much fast food makes you feel shitty, and I missed home cooked meals so I learnt how to cook.'

'That's… nice.' Kurt replied around another bite of pancakes, 'these are great. You didn't have to.'

'It was the least I could do.' Blaine replied, smiling, 'thank you for taking care of me last night.'

'It's no problem. It's what friends do for each other, right?'

Blaine's smile dropped very slightly, but he nodded.

'Sure. Friends. Oh, I made your stepbrother breakfast too, he seemed kind of… weirded out.'

Kurt laughed.

'I'm sorry Blaine, but it's not every day a celebrity comes into your home and makes you breakfast.' Kurt laughed, 'I'm sure he appreciates it – he's basically a food vacuum.'

'So kind of like me then,' Blaine commented, and Kurt looked down to see that in the time they had been talking Blaine had eaten almost half of his food. He wasn't even halfway through his pancakes – Blaine had already polished his off and was eyeing Kurt's rather hungrily.

'You made so much.' Kurt remarked, 'seriously, do you want some of mine?'

'If you don't mind.' Blaine replied bashfully.

'Hang on.' Kurt winked, spearing some of the pancakes onto his fork, 'open your mouth.'

Blaine opened his mouth, resisting the urge to laugh. Kurt fed him the forkful, just as the door opened. Kurt turned his head towards the door, and Blaine looked out of the corner of his eye, being unable to turn his head while the fork was still in his mouth. Of all people, Rachel stood at the door. She looked smug.

'Finn let me in,' she told them, 'but if you two are busy, I can come back later.'

She winked at them and Blaine took hold of the fork in his mouth and tugged it gently out of Kurt's hand, setting it down on Kurt's tray.

'Hey, Rachel,' he smiled at her, 'you're not interrupting anything.'

'Are you sure?' she asked, but she stepped into the room anyway, 'this looks nice.'

Kurt chuckled softly as Rachel sat in his desk chair.

'Blaine made breakfast.' he told her, 'it's really great. Do you want some?'

'I'm fine, thanks,' Rachel smiled, and she gave Kurt a very knowing look. He smiled at her, trying to tell her that he would explain everything later. Blaine watched the exchange with interest.

'Are you two talking about me?' he asked after a moment. Rachel looked at him incredulously.

'We weren't talking.' she replied slowly.

'You were doing that thing,' Blaine insisted childishly, 'where you talk with your eyes.'

'Shush, Blaine,' Kurt patted his hair, which was still curly, 'we weren't talking about you.'

'Yeah, I was just… smiling at Kurt.' Rachel shrugged, 'anyway, what are you two doing today? Actually… why are you even here, Blaine? And why do you have a bruise on your face?'

She had apparently noticed the bruise on Blaine's face, and Blaine's face fell immediately. Kurt looked aghast.

'Rachel!' he admonished, 'you can't just ask things like that! Where is your tact?'

'Sorry.' she apologized meekly, 'I was just curious.'

'Nothing happened.' Blaine smiled softly, 'just a little accident, is all. I'm fine. And I'm here to see Kurt; we're friends, that's what friends do – right?'

He looked pointedly at Kurt as he said the last part, and Kurt knew that he was repeating what he had said earlier. He still didn't get what was with Blaine and comments about being friends, and why he was so touchy about it all.

'We just thought we'd watch movies together.' Kurt told Rachel, 'you're welcome to join us if you want.'

'Actually, I don't think I can,' Rachel replied, 'I came here to gossip and now I can't because Blaine's here –'

'If I'm bothering you so much, I can leave.' Blaine told her, his tone a little harsh. After what had happened the night before at his house, he was a little tired of feeling unwanted. Rachel seemed to notice that she was being a little rude and she smiled at him.

'That's not what I meant at all,' she assured him, 'I promise. I just don't think it would be fair to you to exclude you from our gossip.'

There was a rather tense silence, and Kurt cleared his throat.

'How about we go to the mall?' he suggested. Blaine shook his head, taking a sip of juice.

'We can't,' he replied, 'we'd get mobbed.'

'Mobbed? You mean I can't go to the mall without getting mobbed?' Kurt asked incredulously, 'what if I want to go shopping?'

'Then you call Simon and you make him send someone down to go with you.' Blaine replied, 'it's an absolute pain, but it's necessary. Better safe than sorry, you know.'

Kurt's heart ached at the prospect of having to be 'accompanied' to the mall by security – he loved shopping; it was a great way to get his mind off of things, and right now, he really needed some retail therapy. He didn't want to have to wait an hour and a half for Simon to send someone down, and then struggle through the mall with a million teenage girls in tow once they'd seem Blaine. He sighed.

'So, we're staying in, I guess?' he asked. Blaine looked apologetic.

'I'm sorry. I wish we could, but it's better for us if we don't.' he frowned. Kurt patted his knee.

'It's not your fault, don't be stupid. How about we finish eating and then wash up and we can watch a movie or something?'

'Wash up?' Rachel repeated, 'ha, I think Finn wanted to see me, actually…'

Kurt rolled his eyes at her, and she smiled at him sweetly.

'I'll be with Finn if you need me. Have fun washing up!'

She left the room quickly, and Kurt could hear her cross the hall to Finn's room. Kurt rolled his eyes again.

'Never useful, that one,' he commented, 'are you done?'

'Yeah, just about,' Blaine replied, 'I'll help you wash the dishes if you want.'

'Oh, you don't have to,' Kurt told him, 'you already cooked.'

'It's fine,' Blaine assured him, picking his tray up and sliding off the bed, 'I'd rather not let you do it by yourself.'

Kurt smiled at him and took his own tray, and they carefully balanced them upstairs before dumping them into the kitchen sink. Kurt began filling the sink up with hot water, and Blaine grabbed the bottle of dishwashing liquid, squeezing almost half the bottle into the stream of water.

'Blaine!' Kurt laughed, trying to take the bottle off him, but only ended up squeezing more soap into the sink. Bubbles began to appear rapidly in the water, rising higher and higher in a matter of seconds. Soon the water wasn't even visible, and the bubbles had formed something like a giant mountain in the sink.

'It's beautiful!' Blaine commented, sounding awed. Without hesitation, he stuck his hand into the mountain and scooped a handful of the bubbles up. He looked at them for a moment, and then dumped them on Kurt's perfectly styled hair.

Kurt gasped and his hand flew to his hair, effectively soaking the bubbles into his hair. He glared at Blaine before scooping up some of his own bubbles and blowing them into Blaine's face.  
And so the bubble fight started.

Blaine picked the sponge up and soaked it in the water for a moment before squeezing it over Kurt's head. Kurt squealed and wrestled the sponge off Blaine, who looked relatively scared. He dashed around the island bench and Kurt threw the sponge at him, hitting him in the chest. It stayed for a moment before dropping to the floor with a wet _splat_. Kurt giggled, and Blaine hopped over the bench, dunking both his arms into the sink and wrapping them around Kurt.

The sink had started to overflow, and was making a large puddle on the floor. Kurt quickly pulled the nozzle of the tap and pressed the button to activate the spray function, aiming it at Blaine, soaking him quickly with the hot water. Blaine gasped, drenched, as Kurt giggled, before lunging at him, trying to wrestle the nozzle from his hand. It ended up spraying Kurt directly in the face, and he spat a mouthful of water onto the floor, before bursting out laughing.

The kitchen was an absolute mess – there were suds and water everywhere, and both boys were drenched.

'Oh, you are _so _dead,' Kurt threatened, chasing Blaine around the island bench again, this time aimed with the bottle of dishwashing liquid. Blaine ducked the onslaught of soap, rounding the corner of the bench just as Kurt caught up to him. Kurt's foot slipped in the puddle and he felt himself begin to slip, so he dropped the dishwashing liquid bottle and grabbed onto Blaine's shirt to steady himself. He almost pulled Blaine to the floor, but Blaine braced his arms against the counter behind him at the last second, effectively holding Kurt up. They were both breathing heavily, from the sudden shock, Kurt's hands clenched in the soaking fabric of Blaine's shirt. They locked eyes for a moment, before Kurt, on a whim, pulled himself up, readjusting his grip on Blaine's shirt, and kissed him fiercely.

Blaine let go of the counter with one of his arms, wrapping it around Kurt's waist, pulling him close. Kurt let go of Blaine's shirt and ran his hands through Blaine's sopping curls, angling up into the kiss so that he could deepen it.

He didn't care that he was soaking wet and something tasted vaguely of dishwashing liquid; he was still so amazing as to how he could just lose himself within Blaine, and when he felt Blaine's tongue against his own, and a soft moan escape Blaine's throat, he knew that _this_ definitely wasn't practice anymore.

The sound of something being dropped made them both spin around quickly. Rachel was standing in the kitchen doorway, mouth agape, an unreadable expression on her face, though Kurt had a suspicion that she was secretly screaming on the inside. Blaine cleared his throat awkwardly and released Kurt, running a hand through his wet hair.

'Um… we were practicing?' he offered, and Rachel raised an eyebrow.

Rachel scoffed and picked up her cup, which was thankfully plastic, and set it on the counter.

'And Meredith sings better than I do,' she replied sarcastically, 'just make sure you two get this mess cleaned up before Kurt's parents come home.'

And without another word, she left the room. Kurt narrowed his eyes, rounding on Blaine.

'That was not practice!' he shot.

'Then what was it?' Blaine asked venomously, 'because what other reason would I have to kiss you like that?'

'Usually practice comes with some warning, Blaine.' Kurt told him, his voice low. He was angry. He deserved to be angry.

'Well, maybe it's better when there is no warning.' Blaine replied stubbornly, 'makes it a lot more believable.'

'Makes _what_ a whole lot more believable?' Kurt asked incredulously, '_you're_ not believable. You need to stop lying to me and to yourself, because I'm not putting up with this for much longer. I can't, Blaine. I don't want some friends with benefits thing.'

'I'm not gay.' Blaine reminded him, 'there is no friends with benefits.'

Kurt exhaled shakily.

'Alright. Fine. Whatever.' he found himself sniffing, and tears started springing to his eyes, masked by his already wet face, 'practice. Whatever. Just… warn me next time, alright?'

'Alright.' Blaine nodded, 'fine.'

'Why don't… why don't you go downstairs and I'll clean up here.' Kurt suggested quietly, 'least I could do.'

Blaine opened his mouth to protest, but the look Kurt gave him silenced him and he nodded.

'Okay.' he agreed, 'I'll – I'll be downstairs.'

With that, he left, more or less hating himself. As he walked through the door, he heard Kurt sniff behind him and resisted the urge to run back and take him in his arms.

_What happened to what you were thinking about this morning, Blaine_? he thought bitterly, _what's changed since then? You cooked him food. How aren't you serious about him? You need to pull yourself together before you lose him as a friend, too._

But it was hard. It was probably the hardest thing he'd ever had to accept. He had tried once, and it hadn't worked in his favour – but it felt different with Kurt. Kurt felt different. He hadn't ever felt so exhilarated than when he was kissing Kurt, or holding him, or talking to him. Wasn't Kurt worth the risk?

* * *

**Rachel and her timing! Tsk!**

**Chapters are slowly getting longer again, and I think that's a sign that I'm getting better. I had some sort of minor meltdown today, but in all honesty, I think it's helped me. Also, only a few days until my play! Eek, so nervous! I hope it goes alright!**

**I'll be home late tomorrow because of rehearsals so I'll try have the chapter out by that night if I'm not dead from exhaustion by then – but you guys are worth it so I'll try my very best. Just think, this time next week I'll be free from basically all commitments – and we'll all be able to rejoice together. **

**So let me know what you think – if you want, of course, no pressure. Again, thank you for all your support lately. I couldn't be getting better without you guys and I love and appreciate you all so, so much. **

**See you tomorrow!**


	19. Chapter 19

Kurt finished up with the dishes, exhausted from his and Blaine's argument and from cleaning up. He sighed, running a hair through his now flat hair, dreading having to go back and see Blaine downstairs. He didn't understand what went through that boy's head; one moment he was brushing him off, the next minute he was practically clinging onto him. It was giving Kurt a headache, having to constantly deal with Blaine's mood changes. He understood entirely that coming to terms with your sexuality was difficult – but Blaine obviously didn't realize that it had an effect on Kurt, too.

He walked downstairs with utmost reluctance, to find Blaine sitting on his bed with his legs crossed, looking up at the poster of himself thoughtfully. He turned his head when Kurt walked in, and bit his lip.

'I think you and I have to talk.'

Kurt sighed and sat down next to Blaine, his eyes trained on his bed.

'I think we do,' he agreed quietly, looking up, 'there is… a lot going on between us and I'm not sure where we stand.'

Blaine sighed, his breath shaking slightly. He avoided Kurt's eyes for a moment, the thoughtful expression crossing over his face again.

'I didn't… plan… to have feelings for boys,' he began, 'and that's the reason I'm not okay with it. I expected to grow up and get married to a nice girl and settle down and have a family. But… I don't know. I'm starting to not feel that way anymore, and that's scary.'

'But what's wrong with that?' Kurt asked, 'even if you are straight, it doesn't mean you'll ever get married or have kids. And even if you're… not straight… doesn't mean you can't settle down and start a family. Your sexuality is a part of you and you should learn to accept it.'

'But I don't want to.' Blaine replied, looking rather upset, 'I just want to be… normal.'

'Normal?' Kurt replied, offended, '_normal_? So I'm not normal because I'm gay?'

'No, no,' Blaine assured him quickly, 'I didn't mean it like that, I mean… normal for me. I –'

'I get it,' Kurt sighed, 'I get it, Blaine.'

'No, Kurt…' Blaine protested, reaching out and grabbing Kurt's hand, 'don't. There's nothing wrong with being gay –'

'Then why are you so hung up about it?'

'Because it's different when it's _you_.' Blaine replied, exasperated, 'when_ you're _feeling like this.'

'And I don't know that?' Kurt rolled his eyes, 'because I'm not gay, Blaine, not at all.'

'But you're okay with yourself, Kurt,' Blaine reminded him quietly, 'you're okay with being different, and unique, and who you are, and it's _okay _because it's _you_ and you are amazing. But I can't do it, Kurt. I just can't.'

'But _why_?' Kurt sighed, 'there is _nothing _wrong with it. Sure, there are some people who won't agree with it but _who cares _about them? Why do they matter so much?'

'It's _me_ I care about.' Blaine replied softly, 'not anyone else. It's _me _who can't accept it.'

'Why not?' Kurt asked, squeezing his hand. Blaine sighed, and shook his head. Honestly, he didn't even know himself.

They fell silent, neither looking at each other, though they didn't let go of each other's hands.

'Can I ask you something then?' Kurt asked after a while. Blaine nodded, and Kurt bit his lip.

'Um… you and I… the kissing. Do you um… have feelings for me?'

Blaine was silent for a long moment, and Kurt let go of his hand, dropping it into his own lap.

'Right…' he muttered after a moment, when Blaine still hadn't replied, 'okay then.'

'No.' Blaine spoke up after a moment, 'no. I mean, no, it's not that I don't like you. I do. I… do. I do like you.'

A small smile twitched at Kurt's lip and he found himself talking Blaine's hand again.

'But… Kurt, I don't know.' Blaine added after a moment, 'I can't.'

'You can't what?' Kurt asked, the smile dropping from his lips.

'Do… anything.' Blaine replied, and he ran his free hand through his hair, 'I can't… be with you. At least not properly.'

'Really, Blaine?' Kurt frowned, 'you're okay with kissing me and falling asleep in the same bed as me, but you can't _be _with me?'

'Kurt, it's different…'

Kurt wrenched his hand from Blaine's and stood up, throwing his hands over his head.

'How is it different?' he cried, '_how_? If you can _kiss _a boy, how can't you _be _with one? I don't understand why you're denying this – you're only lying to yourself.'

'It's not that easy!' Blaine retorted, narrowing his eyes at Blaine, 'I'm sorry we can't all be okay with it like you. Some of us have difficulty dealing with this!'

'And you think I didn't?' Kurt snapped, 'I was abused every single day for_ years _because of my sexuality, and you know what? It didn't stop me, because at least I'm being _honest _to myself.'

'What am I meant to do?' Blaine yelled, standing up, his eyes darkening, 'what the _fuck _do you want from me, Kurt, because I seriously don't know.'

'I want you to be honest with me,' Kurt replied angrily, 'and with _yourself_. I want you to either get your act together or stop making me feel things for you if you can't fucking return them.'

Blaine let out a frustrated growl.

'How don't you understand? I can't do this, Kurt!'

'Then stop leading me on!'

'I'm not leading you on if I actually have feelings for you!'

'Then… man up, Blaine!' Kurt yelled, 'do something about it!'

Blaine stared at him for a moment, breathing heavily, before stepping forward and pulling Kurt forward by the front of his shirt, crashing their lips together. He kissed him hard for a moment, before Kurt shoved him away.

'No, we're not doing this.' he told him, slightly breathless, 'don't.'

'Don't make me stop.' Blaine replied, pleading slightly, 'please.'

Now Kurt kissed Blaine, unable to help himself. He threaded his hands through Blaine's curls, pressing himself close against him.

But Blaine pulled away, burying his head against Kurt's neck.

'We can't do this,' he breathed, 'we shouldn't.'

Kurt was conflicted – he didn't want to stop, but he didn't want to do this anymore. He was sick of Blaine hurting him, but the taste of him was all but addictive and he couldn't let him go.

'I know.' Kurt murmured, and Blaine kissed him again, 'we have to stop this.'

He kissed Blaine, who hummed against his lips in agreement, but wrapped his arms around his waist anyway, pushing him gently towards the bed. Kurt sat down, much like he had the first time he and Blaine had practiced for the film, and wasted no time in pulling Blaine on top of him, not breaking the kiss. After a few moments, he seemed to remember that he shouldn't be encouraging anything between them, and he pulled away.

'Blaine,' he sighed, 'we shouldn't.

'But we must.'

'We _can't_.'

Blaine sighed and stood, running his hands through his already dishevelled hair.

'Why is this so hard?' he muttered, 'why?'

'It doesn't have to be.' Kurt replied softly, 'you're making it complicated.'

'I don't know how to make it simple.'

Kurt sighed, frustrated. There was an obviously simple solution to the whole thing, but he had to try and be understanding for Blaine's sake. He knew that it was difficult and he didn't want to push Blaine, because he knew it could affect him badly.

'Okay, Blaine. Look, I'm not going to pressure you into anything. But you need to sort this out because I don't know what to do anymore. I wish it was simple, but it isn't. Just… take your time. Think about it, okay?'

Blaine nodded and sat next to Kurt, burying his face in his hands. Kurt leaned against him, wrapping a supportive arm around his shoulders.

'It'll be alright.' he assured him, 'I'll be here for you no matter what, okay?'

Blaine nodded, annoyed at himself. He wished he could be strong, like Kurt. But he needed time. It wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Blaine left later that afternoon, and Kurt didn't hear from him for a few days. He didn't go to school, but slowly started packing for his trip to New York. He was slowly getting more and more excited, and at the very least, it was taking his mind off the situation he had going on with Blaine.

On Thursday, however, he had to do the talk show with Blaine, and that meant he had to make a trip to Westerville again. He drove to Dalton, and then was driven to a studio along with Blaine and Simon. He was nervous; it was completely terrifying – he didn't know how the whole of America would react to him. If the people at his school weren't accepting of him, he didn't know if anyone else would be – and there would be so many people watching him.

Blaine seemed to notice his nerves, and he shifted closer to Kurt in the back seat of the car and placed a comforting hand on his knee, drawing small circles with his thumb. Kurt felt a little shiver run through him at the contact, and he noticed that Simon was looking at them suspiciously in the rear-view mirror, though Blaine, who was staring out the window, hadn't noticed. Kurt blushed at the look Simon gave him and kept his own eyes trained out the window.

When they arrived at the studio, Kurt was ushered into hair and makeup, something he was slowly becoming more and more used to. He wasn't thrilled with wearing makeup; it did nothing for his skin, but he had to admit that he did look amazing by the time he was allowed out of the makeup room.

'You okay?' Blaine asked him, patting his shoulder. Things had been slightly tense between them since they had met up that morning, Kurt gave him a strained smile and nodded, and Blaine sighed.

'We have to stop with the awkwardness,' he told Kurt, his voice flat, 'we're going to be on the air and if we're weird around each other it's going to show and people will notice.'

Kurt exhaled and smiled properly at him.

'I'm fine,' he assured him, 'I have no idea what you mean. I don't feel weird around you at all.'

Blaine looked at him suspiciously and then nodded slowly.

'Alright, well… we should go out there.'

'Right.'

They left the room together and were met by one of the producers of the show, who ushered them into a brightly lit room, which was decorated stylishly, with sleek furniture. The host of the show, a rather young woman by the name of Kelly Marsh, sat in a chair on a small elevated platform. She smiled kindly at Kurt and Blaine when she saw them.

'Blaine Anderson!' she stood up and crossed the stage, hopping onto the floor and shaking Blaine's hand, 'it's so lovely to meet you. And you must be Kurt Hummel – I've heard so many promising things about you.'

She shook Kurt's hand and he smiled at her – he'd watched her show a few times, and she seemed nice enough. It was nice to see that she was genuine, because he couldn't see anything fake behind her smile.

'It's lovely to meet you, too,' Blaine replied, smiling widely at her, 'it's nice to be here.'

'We're thrilled to have you both! The audience will be in here soon, so we should sit down.'

She led them to the stage and they sat down, Kurt and Blaine on a couch and Kelly in her chair. Kurt tapped his feet nervously, feeling his stomach churn when he heard the back door open and people begin to file into the room.

'Don't be nervous, sweetie,' Kelly smiled kindly, 'you'll do great.'

The guests sat down and began talking excitedly, pointing at Kurt and Blaine. Blaine, who was used to the attention, winked at the audience. A few of the younger girls began to giggle madly, and Kurt resisted the urge to glare at all of them. Blaine didn't seem to notice that Kurt was annoyed at them, and he continued what could only be described as flirting with the girls in the audience from across the room.

'Aren't you just charming?' Kurt hissed quietly, so that Kelly wouldn't hear. She was talking to one of the producers and wasn't paying much attention to them.

'Gotta keep up appearances,' Blaine replied, smiling at a dark haired girl, who blushed brightly.

Kurt rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. He shouldn't have been getting jealous over what Blaine was doing – he knew that he was doing it for publicity. But it still bothered him. Blaine had said he liked Kurt – why would he do this in front of him?

'We're on in one minute!' someone called, and Kurt felt his stomach clench with nerves again. Kelly tossed her hair back behind her shoulders and took a deep breath, plastering a smile across her face.

Kurt thought that they would have at least given him some warning, not just a minute to get ready. But all too soon, Kelly was facing the camera, smiling brightly.

'Hello! Welcome back. Here I have Hollywood heartthrob, Blaine Anderson, and his equally attractive new co-star, Kurt Hummel, to talk about their new film!'

Kurt almost blushed at the compliment, and he smiled.

'It's wonderful to be here,' Blaine told her, 'thanks for having us.'

Kelly smiled again.

'So, Blaine,' she started, 'how about you tell us what the film is about, for those who don't know much about it.'

'Well,' Blaine folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward slightly, 'it's basically about a boy who is denied a transplant because of his sexuality, and then another boy, the one that I play, tries to help him fight for his rights and they basically end up falling in love.'

'It certainly sounds like an interesting concept,' Kelly commented, 'and a subject which isn't exactly talked about.'

'People don't understand that homosexuality is something that is very real and very normal,' Blaine shrugged, and Kurt almost scoffed at how hypocritical he sounded, 'but I think it's a great message to get out, that being gay is perfectly fine and it's something that shouldn't be discriminated against.'

'Well said! Now, Kurt,' Kelly turned to Kurt, who smiled nervously, 'my goodness, sweetie, you look terrified.'

'Only a little,' Kurt replied honestly, and was met with chuckles from the audience. Kelly smiled encouragingly.

'You're doing fine,' she laughed, 'tell me, how did you end up auditioning for the role?'

'Well, a friend and I saw it advertised on television and she more or less forced me into it.' Kurt replied, 'though I can't say I'm not grateful she did.'

'I was told that it was your amazing singing voice, as well as your acting abilities, that landed you the part.'

'Apparently the directors were impressed by my voice…' Kurt shrugged modestly. Blaine snorted.

'Impressed?' he repeated, 'more like blown away. His audition was flawless.'

Kurt smiled at Blaine, who winked at him subtly.

'What did you sing at your audition?' Kelly asked, 'we're all dying to hear you sing in the film.'

'I sang Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked,' Kurt replied, ' it's one of my favourite songs.'

'I don't suppose you'd object to singing a little for us now?' Kelly asked, and the audience members started to clap, calling out encouragement. Kurt felt himself begin to blush and he shook his head.

'Oh, I shouldn't,' he replied nervously, 'I mean, not in front of all these people…'

'Aw, come on!' Kelly pleaded, 'we really want to hear!'

The audience began to cheer and Blaine nudged him.

'Come on, Kurt,' he smiled, 'blow them all away.'

The audience cheered again and Kurt blushed again. He bit his lip.

'Well if you guys insist.' he sighed, and the audience began to clap, 'any requests?'

'How about your audition song?' Blaine suggested, 'I mean, you were fantastic.'

Kurt felt his stomach twist with nerves and he decided that he should just get it over and done with; he took a deep breath and sang the first verse of Defying Gravity.

And he didn't expect the uproar from the audience when he finished, but the applause and cheering was exhilarating. He blushed crimson and ducked his head to hide his grin.

'Aw, so modest,' Blaine teased, nudging him again. Kurt smiled at him, and Kelly clapped.

'You're obviously very talented!' she exclaimed, sounding incredibly impressed, 'and it's no wonder you were chosen for the role!'

'Thank you very much.' Kurt replied, his cheeks still red. He was unable to keep the smile off of his face.

'Astounding.' Kelly commented, shaking her head fondly, 'seriously. So…'

The interview continued for a while longer, Kelly asking more questions about the film and about Kurt himself – he ended up talking about, and shamelessly promoting, the New Directions. He talked about his father a little bit, and a little about his sexuality. The audience, to his surprise, seemed to love him, which was incredibly surprising. He was shocked at the reaction he was receiving from them. By the end of the interview, he felt completely relaxed, and had been talking without any nervousness. When the interview was over, Kelly gave him a hug.

'That was fantastic, for your first interview,' she beamed, 'and I'm so glad I was the first one to interview you – you're going to make it big. I just know it.'

Kurt couldn't keep the smile off his face after that, and his day only served to get better after he had exited the makeup room after scrubbing his face clean, and a group of girls had made their way to him, giggling madly, and asked him for his autograph. He signed various bits of paper with a flourish, feeling incredibly accomplished. He had talked to them for a while, until Simon dragged him away.

'You're loving this, aren't you?' he laughed, 'everyone loves you already.'

'It's an amazing feeling.' Kurt admitted, 'I'm just… in awe. I didn't expect this at all.'

'You need to have a little more faith in yourself.' Simon told him, patting him on the back, 'you're a great kid and Kelly's right; you're going to go far.'

Kurt beamed at him, butterflies erupting in his stomach. He was somehow nervous and excited and thrilled all at once; he had never felt so confident in himself – or proud. It had been a long time since he had felt so accepted by a large group of people, bar his glee club, and it felt good. It felt good to not be judged by his sexuality for once.

When he got back into the car to be driven back to Dalton, he noticed that Blaine seemed very tense beside him. He was tapping his foot against the floor and seemed to be refraining from saying something, or doing something, and Kurt wondered if Blaine was mad at him or something because of how the interview had gone – he had ended up talking a lot more than Blaine had.

But when they had returned to Dalton, and made it back inside, Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and dragged him into the first available classroom and shut the door, pushing Kurt against it, before pressing his lips to his.

Kurt, though shocked, found himself unable to push Blaine away. A moment later, however, Blaine pulled away.

'I'm sorry.' he apologized, squeezing his eyes shut and looking rather conflicted, 'I just… it's been four days and then today you looked… and you were so amazing in the interview and I just couldn't help myself. I – I'm sorry.'

'No… it's okay.' Kurt sighed, 'look, Blaine, you have to make a decision about this, alright? This isn't good for either of us.'

'I know,' Blaine groaned, 'I'm working on it. I – I can't… be with you. Not… just yet. Not right now. But don't… stop kissing me. Please never stop kissing me.'

Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but he found that he didn't have anything to say. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed Blaine softly again. He knew that Blaine was trying, and he had to admire that. He felt Blaine smile against his lips and a moment later felt Blaine's hands on his hips.

_Maybe one day_, Kurt thought, feeling himself slowly begin to lose himself in the kiss, _maybe one day Blaine will accept it. But until then – this is okay. We're going to be okay._

* * *

**I have had a litre and a half of energy drinks, and about three black coffees, not to mention that I've been performing and changing sets all day, so I am absolutely hyped! **

**Also, I had a rather sexy day yesterday, so have some Klaine loving! I feel generous! **

**Let me know what you think. Sorry about the lack of chapters, but this one is sort of long. I've just been so busy with theatre, but I promise my updates will be regular again! Love you guys! **


	20. Chapter 20

Meredith sat at a cafeteria table, tapping her long fingernails against the bench impatiently.

She was watching a YouTube clip of Kurt and Blaine's interview, her eyes narrowed at her phone's screen. Kurt was all but sucking up to the host and the audience, and Blaine was practically in a puddle beside him. She was incredibly suspicious of the two; she'd seen them around the school, giggling and holding hands when they thought she wasn't watching. But Meredith saw everything, and she was angry.

She was angry because Blaine should have been with _her_, not the stupid porcelain elfin boy. She would admit that he was very attractive, and grudgingly admit that he was talented, but he had no right to go around and make Blaine gay. She could see the way he looked at him. He wasn't blind.

She closed the video, seething. She tapped her fingers against the table for a little longer, the wheels in her head turning rapidly.

The last time she had tried to interfere obviously didn't work; she made it into one small, pesky article and even then, neither Kurt nor Blaine seemed ruffled at all by it. She had to do something bigger – something that would tear the both of them apart. She didn't care if they filmed together, that didn't have to mean anything, but she didn't want them hanging around together anymore when it was obviously holding Blaine back from loving her again.

She needed evidence – not just words; cold, hard evidence. It wouldn't be that hard, she figured, seeing as Kurt and Blaine were rarely seen without each other lately, and had taken to holding hands even when making the shortest trips. She wondered if even they noticed that they did it – it was as though they were just drawn together by some sort of invisible force. Well, that force was about to end.

She stood from the table, intending on doing some snooping. What she did instead though, was run straight into Simon, who looked at her suspiciously.

'Meredith,' he nodded slowly, 'what are you doing?'

'Oh, nothing,' she replied, tossing her hair behind her shoulders and smiling sweetly, 'just going for a walk, actually.'

She made to step past him, but stopped herself.

'Are you worried about Kurt and Blaine?' she asked him suddenly, not knowing where the question was coming from. When she saw the confused expression on Simon's face, however, she knew it was the right thing to say.

'What do you mean?' Simon asked slowly.

'Well, haven't you noticed the way they're acting around each other lately?' she asked innocently, 'I mean, I'd hate for Kurt to hurt Blaine like Daniel did.'

'I wasn't aware that there was anything going on between them.' Simon told her, though his voice was guarded, 'I'm sure it's nothing, they're just good friends.'

'Good friends don't really hold hands in the corridors and sneak off together, do they?' Meredith countered, and then put on a very confused face, 'I wonder what they're doing.'

'Yeah, I wonder.' Simon agreed quietly, 'I'm sure it's nothing. You shouldn't worry about it.'

Meredith shrugged but she saw that Simon had started to think about it, and that was what she wanted. She was pretty sure his protective fatherly instincts were going to kick in and he would talk to Blaine about it, and then Blaine would panic like last time and sever ties with Kurt. And then when he was upset about the whole fiasco, she would come in and be there for him like she should be.

She left then, and Simon stared after her. He _had _noticed Blaine's behaviour around Kurt, of course, and he was concerned that Blaine wasn't handling the feelings he obviously had for Kurt well. He wished Blaine would just open up and talk to him about it, but Blaine never opened up about anything. Even when he had all but interrogated him about the dark bruise on his face, he'd refused to give any answers, though Simon had a vague idea of what had happened, and he was determined to do something about it. Blaine was too closed up about his feelings – he always had been, and Simon was really beginning to worry about him. He knew that trying to talk to Blaine was pointless, but he could always keep a closer eye on how he and Kurt interacted. If anything, perhaps he could subtly encourage Blaine to take a chance on Kurt – he had a feeling that they would make something incredibly special together, and if there was anything Blaine needed, it was a little love in his life.

* * *

'I cannot be bothered today,' Blaine singsonged, spinning around in a circle in his room. Kurt was sat on his bed, amused, watching him as he twirled.

'At least it's our last day of filming here.' Kurt offered, and Blaine stopped spinning.

'And then New York.' he grinned, 'honestly, it gets better and better every time I go there.'

'I've never been,' Kurt replied, sighing wistfully, 'I can't wait to go.'

'I'm going to take you everywhere,' Blaine gushed, 'we're going to go see something on Broadway and we're going to eat lots of food and we're going to go out at night and look at the lights and we're going to have some much fun!'

'Food?' Kurt laughed, 'we're going to New York and you're talking about _food_? Come on, there's got to be so many more things to do. It's New York, Blaine.'

Blaine laughed too and walked over to Kurt, taking his hands in his and pulling him to his feet. He began to spin Kurt around, pulling him close and then letting go and then pulling him back again, lacing their fingers together.

'Well, we can do a lot of other stuff in New York, too,' he told Kurt. He cleared his throat and looked at the floor for a second, 'for example – in New York, people are a lot more accepting of um, two guys…'

Kurt felt his heart twist in his chest, with nerves or excitement, he didn't know, but he couldn't deny that the way Blaine was looking at him was making him giddy.

'Two guys?' he repeated, 'you mean… me and you?'

Blaine bit his lip and pulled Kurt closer to him, wrapping his arms around his waist.

'Perhaps.' he smiled, 'I mean, why not?'

Kurt suppressed a giggle and a moment later, he felt Blaine's lips against his, kissing him softly.

'So, when are we leaving?' Kurt asked, 'and how are we getting there?'

'I really want to drive there.' Blaine replied, 'but we'll probably fly, which is quicker and more convenient but a whole lot more boring.'

Kurt made to reply, but Blaine's phone went off. It was a text from Simon, asking them to come down to the library to finish up their last scenes.

Blaine took his hand to lead him out of the room, but released it as they neared the library and saw people milling around. Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine, stuffing his hands into his pockets, before being ushered into hair and makeup and costume.

They met Simon in the library. He looked frazzled – his hair was messy and he looked tired; it was probably the stress of his final day of filming here at Dalton.

'We're going to need you two to kiss today.' Simon told the two, and Kurt noticed that Blaine's eyes widened slightly, as though he was suddenly terrified.

'That's um, fine,' he assured Simon, his voice slightly higher than normal, 'that's okay.'

'Alright? You're sure?' Simon asked, staring at him with concern. Blaine nodded quickly and Simon clapped his hands together, 'that's good! That's very good! Okay, you two get into place at the table in the corner – with the books. Blaine, I want you sitting on the left and I want Kurt on the right.'

Kurt and Blaine went to their assigned seats. Blaine started drumming his fingers on the table as the film crew set up around them.

'Are you nervous?' Kurt whispered, not feeling very nervous at all. Blaine looked pale, even under the makeup. He swallowed hard and shook his head.

'I'm okay.' he replied, nodding mostly to himself, 'I'm fine. It's okay. We're just acting, right?'

'Just acting. Right.' Kurt replied, raising an eyebrow. Blaine looked at him exasperatedly.

'Oh, stop it,' he sighed, 'don't get angry at me for this now. We_ are _acting now. When we're on camera, we're acting.'

'And what if I'm _not_ acting?' Kurt hissed, hitting Blaine's leg, annoyed, 'and I know _you're _not acting – you weren't acting when we practiced the first time and we're not practicing or acting _now_, Blaine, and you know it.'

Their discussion was becoming more heated and was attracting some attention from the crew around them, so they dropped their voices a little more and continued their argument in hissed tones.

'We're on camera. When you're on camera, you _are _acting.' Blaine retorted, 'so don't give me any of this crap about not acting. There's a big difference between kissing someone in front of a camera and _kissing _someone, okay? There's no passion behind it, unless you act like there is.'

'Alright, you two,' Simon came up to them, frowning. He could hear them quarrelling from where he had been standing, and although he hadn't heard why they were fighting, he was eager to put an end to it, 'basically, we just want the kiss today, because we've got the other scenes down, and this is going to be edited in. So what you need to do, Blaine, is say your line _before_ the kiss and then kiss Kurt, and we'll do it a few times to get it right.'

Blaine nodded, raking his brain to remember his line before the kiss. He looked at Kurt, his mind completely blanking.

'All that matters is us, and what we have right now. I don't care about the disease or the consequences or anything, I just care about you and me and this moment.' Kurt hissed, prompting Blaine. Blaine nodded, shooting him a thankful, yet strained smile.

'Now, let's see if this is just acting.' Kurt smirked, making himself more comfortable in his seat just as Simon signalled for them to start.

Blaine repeated the line, his stomach twisting with nerves, and exhaled shakily as he finished the sentence, leaning forward in his chair, cupping Kurt's cheek and kissing him as chastely as he could.

But as always, it was like some internal force had glued him to Kurt, and he shifted forward in his chair and kissed him hard, feeling Kurt gasp into his mouth in shock before kissing him back fiercely, fisting his hands in his blazer and pulling him so far forward Blaine almost fell out of his chair.

'Cut!' Simon suddenly yelled, incredibly shocked at what he had just seen. Kurt and Blaine pulled away from each other, blushing deeply, and Simon cleared his throat. If he had any doubts about them before, he was sure there was something there now.

'Um… right.' Simon cleared his throat again, 'okay. Can we get that again, but uh, perhaps you two should tone it down a little and…' he watched the replay of the shot on the laptop the camera was hooked up to, 'I don't like the angle of this, so if you can take the camera over to the left and do it from there?'

The cameraman moved his camera over to the side, and while he was doing that, Kurt looked at Blaine, flushed and breathless.

'That wasn't acting?' he asked softly, '_that _wasn't acting? I'm sorry, but I've never seen you kiss your female co-stars like that, Blaine. You are _not _acting.'

Blaine opened his mouth to reply just as Simon yelled for them to get into position. Blaine spoke the line again, this time taking hold of one of Kurt's hands, and when he kissed Kurt the next time, it was slow and sweet and felt completely right for the scene. He felt Kurt smile against his lips and he knew that no, he wasn't acting. He was kissing Kurt because he absolutely wanted to kiss Kurt, and when Simon yelled 'cut' the next time, he could barely pull himself away.

'Much better, guys!' Simon praised, 'now, we're just going to get that again, so Blaine…'

They filmed the scene over and over again, until Blaine was sick of the lines and his lips were swollen and red from kissing Kurt. He noticed that Kurt's eyes had darkened and he imagined his were much the same. They were both breathing heavily and Blaine felt his pants becoming uncomfortably tight. The idea of a boy turning him on was more than enough to freak him out, but watching Kurt's dark eyes and swollen lips far surpassed the scariness of being so attracted to a boy. At any rate, it must have been noticeable because he suddenly heard Simon chuckle.

'I think we should take a break,' he suggested, 'so we can um… see what we have, figure out what could go where and um… you two can go… cool off. I don't know.'

Blaine shifted uncomfortably and pulled his blazer further down, muttering under his breath and running a hand through his hair. Kurt looked equally embarrassed, but he had the sense to stand up and excuse himself.

'I'm going for a walk…' he muttered, his cheeks burning. Blaine stared after him, breathing heavily through his nose. Simon looked over at him and hesitated for a moment before going over to Blaine, sitting in the seat where Kurt formerly sat.

'So… were you okay with filming that?' he asked him casually. Blaine nodded, still breathing irregularly, trying to steady his heartbeat.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' he replied, shrugging, 'that was fine with me; no big deal at all.'

Simon raised his eyebrow at him, but he nodded slowly.

'Okay. Well, it looked really good on camera,' he told him, 'really passionate, you know? You two must have been practicing the scene a lot.'

'Well… yeah…' Blaine shrugged again, 'once or twice I suppose, we didn't really get around to it that often.'

Simon suppressed a laugh, but he nodded instead.

'You should go get some water or something,' he suggested, 'or maybe lie down for a while. You look a little flustered.'

'Just tired – I'm fine.' Blaine assured him, 'it was a fun scene to film.'

'I'll bet it was,' Simon winked, amused by Blaine's attempt at nonchalance, 'well, I'm going to run over the film. You go off and do whatever.'

Blaine nodded and cleared his throat, pulling his blazer down further as he stood. He nodded again to Simon, and left the room. Once he was far enough from the room, he slumped against the wall and sighed shakily, running his hands through his hair.

'Fuck,' he breathed, squeezing his eyes shut. He could only imagine what he looked like right now.

'Blaine?'

He cursed under his breath again before opening his eyes slowly, seeing Kurt peering at him with both concern and curiosity. He forced a smile onto his face.

'Hey, Kurt,' he greeted him, 'I didn't see you there.'

'Are you okay?' Kurt asked, leaning against the wall next to him and glancing at him, 'you look a little… ruffled.'

'I'm fine,' Blaine assured him, still smiling thinly, 'everything is fine.'

Kurt made a noise which Blaine took to mean that he didn't believe him, and he frowned.

'I am fine.' he insisted, flattening his hair. Kurt scoffed.

'Still going to tell me you were acting?' he asked, his voice light and teasing. Blaine narrowed his eyes at him, noting that he looked more composed than Blaine felt – though he _had _probably gone to the bathroom to straighten his clothes and hair out, though his lips were still dark and his pupils blown. He was staring at Blaine with an amused, yet oddly intense expression on his face. A moment later, Blaine felt Kurt's hand slip into his, squeezing gently. At the touch, a little shock ran through him and he suppressed a shiver.

'Yes.' Blaine replied, 'I was acting.'

Kurt smirked, pulling Blaine closer to him. He glanced up and down the corridor, and when he knew for sure it was empty, he brushed his lips against Blaine's neck and murmured, 'then you must be an amazing actor.'

Now Blaine did shiver, and he pushed Kurt away from him gently.

'Not now,' he scolded, 'not here.'

He sighed shakily again, and Kurt smirked once more.

'Perhaps we should go see if Simon needs anything from us for a while.' he suggested, winking and pulling on Blaine's hand, 'I mean, I'd hate to waste all this time we have by standing around here doing nothing.'

He pulled Blaine down the corridor back towards the direction of the library. Once they were gone, Meredith stepped into the open, flicking through the photos she had just taken of the two, a pleased grin on her face. She had caught them holding hands, obviously flirting, and she had even gotten a shot of Kurt kissing Blaine's neck, which both pleased her and infuriated her. Who did this Kurt think he was? He barely knew Blaine – it had been less than two months and he was going around acting like they were married or something. Blaine was her property, and Kurt would learn the hard way to stay away from him. That was something she would make sure of.

* * *

**And production season is over! The thought is really depressing; I have nothing fun to do with my life! The show was a huge success though; in the end, we performed to over 600 people, which is amazing for a school production! I had so much fun and I've been receiving so much positive feedback for my performance, and I feel basically on top of the world. **

**Now that it's over, though, I can update a lot more because I have a lot more free time on my hands. **

**So let me know what you think and I'll have your next chapter by tomorrow! Man, it feels good to be able to say that and know that I can get the chapter out in time. I love you guys, thank you for all the support and kindness you all show so often. I appreciate it so much! **


	21. Chapter 21

'Kurt!'

Kurt turned to see Simon walking towards him, holding a stack of papers in his hand. He looked excited, as opposed to how exhausted he looked earlier.

'Hey, Simon,' he greeted him, 'what's up?'

'New York is what's up!' Simon replied, 'because we're leaving in two days and I'm seriously excited!'

Kurt's eyes lit up at mention of New York, and even more so at the fact that he would be there in _two days_. He'd wanted to go there ever since he was a child, and now he was – to film a movie of all things. He jumped up and down with excitement for a moment and Simon laughed.

'We're going to have someone pick you up at five in the morning on Saturday,' he told him, 'and then you'll be driven to the airport – your flight is at 8.03.'

He ruffled through the stack of papers he was holding and produced an envelope, which he then gave to Kurt. Inside, there was his plane ticket, and a key card.

'That's for your hotel room,' he told him, 'and I hope you don't mind, but we put you with Blaine. You know… cheaper that way…'

Kurt felt himself blush the slightest amount at the idea of sharing a room with Blaine, but it wasn't like he minded. He quickly put the envelope away in his satchel and Simon opened his mouth to speak.

'I think you and I need to have another talk soon.' he told him, and Kurt cocked to his head. He assumed it was about Blaine, but the way Simon was looking at him made him think that this wasn't going to another one of those 'how do you and Blaine feel about each other?' conversations.

'Sure,' Kurt agreed, 'why not now?'

Simon pulled him into the nearest empty classroom and shut the door.

'What happened to Blaine's face?' he asked, 'I know he stayed at your house on the weekend and he won't tell me what happened.'

Kurt bit his lip – he didn't want to tell Simon and betray Blaine's trust, but on the other hand, if Blaine was being physically abused at home, shouldn't Simon have a right to know? He knew that he and Blaine were very close and if anyone had the authority to help Blaine, it was Simon.

'It was his dad,' he told Simon quickly, 'his dad hit him so he came to stay at mine.'

Simon squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled slowly, and Kurt could see how obviously angry it had made him.

'But he's okay,' Kurt added quickly, 'I mean, he seemed okay. We had a cry together and then we fell asleep and it was alright.'

'I… appreciate that you're there for him, Kurt,' Simon told him, 'I really do. But I am a little concerned as to the relationship you two have.'

Kurt looked at Simon, a confused expression on his face, and Simon sighed.

'Blaine tends to become really… attached to people because he doesn't have a good relationship with his parents. They ultimately reject him and everything he does and then when he finds someone who appreciates him, he latches on. I'm worried that he's becoming very attached to you and it's affecting him negatively.'

'Why would it affect him negatively?' Kurt asked.

'Did you see how he kissed you today?' Simon asked, sounding rather exasperated, 'I mean, it was like he was glued to you or something. Blaine might be lying to himself but it's so obvious that he has feelings for you, and the longer he denies them, the more it's going to upset him. He's already acting differently.'

'Well, I don't know then.' Kurt shrugged, feeling cross, 'what am I meant to do?'

'I don't know, Kurt, I just want you to be careful around him. He's… damaged. And fragile. So you have to treat him carefully, because I don't know how he would react to being hurt after the last time.'

'I'm sorry; you think I'm going to hurt him?' Kurt exploded, '_I'm _going to hurt _him_?'

'Well, no, it's not like that, I just thought that because –'

'No, Simon, let me tell you this.' Kurt snapped, narrowing his eyes, '_Blaine _is the one that drags me off for impromptu make out sessions, and then implies he has all these feelings for me and then shoots me down but still basically _acts _like we're in some sort of relationship. If anyone is hurting anyone, he's hurting me, and I'm going out of my way to act like I'm okay with it. So maybe you should have this conversation with him, not me.'

With that, Kurt readjusted his satchel on his shoulder and left the room. He bumped into Blaine on his way out, and not even acknowledging him, stormed off. He was sick of how he was being treated. Everything was about Blaine – why wasn't it about him for once?

Blaine stared after Kurt, confused. He walked into the room which Kurt had just come out of and, when he saw Simon looking rather sheepish, his expression fell flat.

'What did you do to Kurt?' he demanded.

'I didn't do anything!' Simon replied, throwing his hands up helplessly, 'I – I just told him to be careful with you because I didn't want him to hurt you.'

'Why would Kurt hurt me?' Blaine asked, as though it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard before, 'he's been nothing but amazing to me since the day we met.'

'I was just… looking out for you.' Simon offered weakly, 'I mean, I don't want you to get hurt, after last time.'

'Daniel was a different story.' Blaine reminded him, 'and it was Meredith's fault. Don't be rude to Kurt.'

'I wasn't being rude to Kurt!' Simon insisted, and Blaine frowned at him.

'Then why did he look like he was going to cry?' he snapped, 'look, I'm glad that you're looking out for me, but I don't need you having a go at people I care about because you assume I'm weak enough to get hurt.'

'That's not it at all!' Simon protested, but Blaine glared at him.

'I'm going to make sure Kurt is okay,' he interrupted, 'at least one of us should look out for him, after all.'

He glared at Simon a final time and stormed out of the room, much like Kurt had done before.

He went in the general direction Kurt had gone in, and eventually found him in one of the bathrooms, his eyes rimmed red. His heart hurt at the thought of Kurt crying, especially over something Simon had said or done to him. He approached him cautiously, not wanting to startle him.

'Are you okay?' he asked gently, lightly touching Kurt's arm. Kurt stared at him for a moment, and then shook his head.

'No, actually,' he replied shortly, 'I'm not.'

'What's wrong?' Blaine asked, 'is it Simon? Because I –'

'No,' Kurt interjected, 'it's not just Simon. It's all of this, Blaine. I don't know how much of this I can stand anymore.'

'Stand what? Is it the filming or the –'

'The filming?' Kurt repeated, and his voice was deathly silent, 'you think this is about the _filming_?'

Blaine shrugged meekly, afraid that Kurt was about to start yelling. Kurt gripped a sink and exhaled deeply, obviously trying to collect himself. It didn't work, apparently, because when he rounded on Blaine next his eyes were flashing and his cheeks were red with anger.

'I am sick to death of how you're treating me!' he shouted, 'I'm sick of it! I am not your – your _toy, _Blaine. I'm not your fucking experiment!'

Blaine took a step backwards, shocked. He wasn't used to hearing Kurt swear, especially not while yelling. Kurt had never seemed like the type to actually scream at someone, but his voice was echoing off the tiles and he sounded so broken and infuriated that Blaine felt ashamed of himself.

'You need to figure out if you want something from this or not,' Kurt continued, his voice lowering in tone but not in ferocity, 'because I _refuse _to be some sort of plaything. I am trying _so hard_ to be understanding because I _know _that this is hard but I can't just let you hurt me like this. I can't do it anymore, Blaine.'

'But, Kurt, I –' Blaine started helplessly, unable to find the right words, 'I –'

'But nothing, Blaine,' Kurt interrupted, glaring at him, 'this isn't fair. Tell me how this is fair in the slightest?'

'It – it isn't.' Blaine admitted, dropping his gaze to the floor. He was right. Kurt was right. He was treating him horribly and he deserved so much more. He stepped forward and tried to take Kurt's hand, but Kurt wrenched it away from him.

'This is what I mean!' he seethed, 'all these stupid little gestures that apparently mean nothing to you, but everything to me. I can't handle this. Tell me now – do you want _anything _out of this, or can I just stop trying?'

Blaine made to reply, but the bathroom door was pushed open and Nick entered, for once seen without Jeff by his side. He looked at the two of them, concern evident on his face.

'Is everything okay?' he asked slowly, 'I could hear yelling from the corridor.'

'Everything's fine.' Kurt replied stiffly, brushing past Nick and Blaine. Blaine stared after him helplessly, feeling tears spring to his eyes. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and Nick noticed that he had started to cry.

'Oh, Blaine, no, don't cry.' Nick rushed over and slung his arm around Blaine's shoulder, pulling him close, 'don't cry. What happened? What's the matter?'

Blaine felt his knees give out beneath him and he sank to the floor, stuffing his fist in his mouth to stifle the sobs.

'I can't do this,' he sniffed, his voice hoarse, 'Kurt expects me to – to I don't know, _be _with him, I don't know. He's getting all angry because I _can't_ and I –'

'Whoa, hold up, hold up,' Nick held his hand up to stop Blaine's rambling, 'you and Kurt? There's something going on there?'

'Of _course _there is,' Blaine replied, 'how could there _not_ be? Have you seen him? He's flawless. I can't _not_ be drawn to him, but I can't do anything about it.'

'Why not?' Nick asked, 'what's stopping you?'

Blaine tried to reply, but he didn't know how to. Honestly, the only person stopping him was himself. He held his mouth agape, like some sort of fish, and Nick sighed, settling himself down on the bathroom floor.

'You know, when I first had any idea that I was gay, I tried to deny it for ages.' he started, with the air of someone telling a great story, 'I mean, it was terrifying. It really was. I didn't think my parents were going to approve and it was just generally… crazy. Being gay, you know? Liking boys. Going against what all the other boys were feeling.'

'What did you do?' Blaine asked, surprised they'd actually never talked about this before.

'I met Jeff.' Nick replied simply, smiling, 'I mean, the thought of it terrified me beyond anything I could ever imagine, but when I looked at him, I knew that there would just be a… _solution_ with him. As long as I had him, it would be okay, because he just made me feel… right. I didn't have to deny anything with him because with him, I could be exactly who I was meant to be and when I just let him help me, it was easy. You've gotta let Kurt in, man. Let him in or let him go.'

'I would never let him go.' Blaine muttered, 'why would I let him go?'

'Well, you're going to lose him if you don't start working for him.' Nick told him bluntly, 'I'm sorry, but you will. I'm not going to skirt around the issue because you need to understand that there are repercussions when you mistreat someone.'

'You think I'm mistreating him?' Blaine asked weakly, wiping his eyes again. Nick bit his lip, sighing.

'Look, man, I'm saying all this because I love you and you're my bro, alright?'

Blaine nodded, and Nick sighed again.

'Well, judging from what I heard him say, it sounds like you do.'

Blaine felt as though someone had punched him in the throat – the last thing he wanted to do was treat Kurt horribly; Kurt deserved to be treated like gold. What was he doing?

'But it's not too late!' Nick declared, 'because you can sweep him off of his pretty little feet and all will be good!'

'I don't know how to do that.' Blaine groaned, 'I can't get past this stupid block that stops me from being with him. I don't understand it.'

'Just go for it, man!' Nick told him, slapping him on the arm, 'just take a fucking risk and go for it. If it doesn't work out, that's fine. If it does, that's even better – okay? Kurt makes you happy and you obviously care for him, so that's reason enough to just fuck the world and go for it.'

'Fuck the world and go for it.' Blaine repeated softly, 'right. But… the public? Really?'

'Did anyone say you had to go public?' Nick asked, sounding annoyed, 'is a relationship between you and the _public _or between you and the person that you _love_?'

'Whoa, slow down on the love.'

Nick rolled his eyes, 'you know what I mean, man. No one has to know about you and Kurt. It should between the two of you. Maybe one day you'll be able to accept yourself for who you really are, but until then, let Kurt in and let him help you.'

'Accept me for who I am? Nick…'

'Blaine, damn it, you are _gay_.' Nick sighed, 'you are capital G gay.'

'I am not gay!' Blaine retorted, 'I am not gay.'

'Oh, come on,' Nick sighed, 'I can see the way you look at him and I'm pretty sure _everyone _has their suspicions by now. Just… man up and accept that fact that you like boys!'

'I like _Kurt_.'

'_Kurt is a boy!_ Blaine! Come _on_, man! Why are you doing this?'

'What the hell do you want me to do then?' Blaine snapped, raking his hands through his hair, 'because I am losing my mind over this!'

'You don't have to be!' Nick sighed, calming down considerably. He placed his hand on Blaine's shoulder and squeezed gently, 'you don't have to be upset. All you have to do is sit Kurt down and ask him to be yours. You'll see. It'll be the most relief you'll feel ever.'

Blaine exhaled slowly, squeezing his eyes shut. Would it really be that hard? Would it really be that _different _from what was happening now? He'd still be able to kiss Kurt and hold his hand and talk to him and take him out, except the only difference would be the label of 'boyfriend'. Would that really change much? Merely looking at Kurt made his heart hammer a mile a minute. Nick was right. Simon was right. _Everyone _was right. He had to step up and be a man and just _ask_. It wouldn't change much. It couldn't.

But he wouldn't do it just yet. Perhaps when he made it to New York, somewhere romantic and meaningful, because after everything he put Kurt through, that's exactly what he deserved.

He was going to do it. He was going to ask Kurt Hummel to be his boyfriend.

* * *

Kurt didn't speak to Blaine until he met him at the airport. He had said his goodbyes to his friends the previous night, and had gossiped excitedly with them until the early hours of the morning. They were envious of his trip, Rachel especially, but more than excited for him. He was beside himself, and the distraction of going to New York at last helped take his mind off of whatever he and Blaine had going on. He decided that until Blaine realized that he was more than just an object, he wouldn't speak to him or associate with him unless it was behind a camera.

Blaine stood awkwardly in the airport terminal – it wasn't that busy, but there were still people who recognized him who pointed and whispered. Those who tried to make their way over to him were ushered away by his security, and since Kurt hadn't so much as greeted him and was sitting on the other end of the row of chairs, he had no one to talk to. It would be an awkward headline if someone had decided to take a photo of them; the press would have a field day and would probably invent all kinds of rumours and lies. He glanced over, but Kurt stared determinedly in the other direction.

Blaine sighed and requested a coffee from one of the security guards, giving him enough money to buy himself one. He'd already had one, but he needed something to keep him distracted. He had no idea how he would get Kurt to go out with him if he wasn't even talking to him.

The guard handed him the coffee and Blaine sipped at it nervously. They had half an hour until their flight was due to board and he didn't know how he would handle the flight with Kurt being so cold. With a sudden burst of determinacy, he stood and walked over to Kurt and sat down next to him. Kurt cleared his throat and turned further away, and Blaine almost rolled his eyes at him.

'Kurt.'

Kurt didn't turn, and Blaine nudged his knee with his.

'Kurt.'

Kurt still didn't turn his head, and Blaine sighed, placing his hand on Kurt's knee instead.

'Kurt, look at me, please.'

Kurt sighed and turned to look at Blaine. He looked tired and a little stressed, but as though he was willing to listen.

'I'm sorry about everything,' he told him sincerely, and when Kurt sighed softly and made to turn away, Blaine grabbed his hand and pulled him back, 'Kurt, seriously. I'm sorry.'

He caught Kurt's gaze and held it, staring directly into the glasz eyes he'd grown so accustomed to.

'So why do you continuously do it over and over again?' he asked softly, 'I've told you before, and you just do it again and again.'

'Because I'm not used to… feeling like this.' Blaine replied desperately, 'and I'm trying, Kurt, really. Just… please. I think I'll surprise you, okay? I'm trying.'

Kurt bit his lip and looked thoughtful for a moment, before twisting in his chair so that he was facing Blaine and slipping an arm around his waist, resting his head on Blaine's shoulder. He felt decidedly lighter after that, and even more so when Kurt stole his coffee. He smiled stupidly until they were called to board their flight.

Kurt sat beside Blaine, taking the window seat, and began to chatter excitedly about their trip. It was obvious that he was over the moon to be going to New York, despite the fact that he was going to miss his friends and family like crazy. He talked of all the places he wanted to go for perhaps the hundredth time, but Blaine realized then he would never get sick of hearing Kurt talk, even if he had heard it before. His voice was light and like music, and was incredibly relaxing to listen to.

The flight went by incredibly quickly – it was less than an hour and a half with the excellent tail wind they were having. When they landed at LaGuardia Airport, Kurt was all but bouncing in his seat.

'This is amazing. This is so amazing. I can't believe this. Oh my god, Blaine, we're in New York. _I'm _in a plane in New York and I'm going to go to run around New York and film in New York and Blaine, we're in New York!'

He grabbed Blaine's hand and Blaine squeezed it, charmed by how excited something so simple made him. He, of course, was equally as excited as Kurt had been when he had first come to New York. He had fallen in love with the city, and he had come back as often as he could.

By the time they had actually made it through the airport and onto the streets of New York, Kurt was squealing and jumping up and down.

'Oh my god, Blaine, look – New York!'

He grabbed Blaine's hand and held it, refusing to let go. Blaine bit his lip and after a moment laced their fingers together. Kurt looked at him and smiled, just as a sleek black car pulled up in front of them.

'That's our ride,' one of the guards announced, opening the door for them. Kurt got into the car, never releasing Blaine's hand, and pulled him in after him. The door was shut behind him and the guard got into the passenger seat. There was a dark partition between the front and the back seats, and as soon as the car started moving, Kurt pressed a kiss to Blaine's cheek.

'I'm glad we're okay,' he chirped, 'being mad at you would have seriously put a damper on my trip here.'

'Me too.' Blaine replied, practically glowing from the simple kiss, 'I think we're going to our hotel now.'

'Where are we going to stay?'

'For now we're staying at the…' Blaine checked his phone, 'the St. Regis, which is an awesome place to stay. But we'll probably only be there for a few days before we get moved either on the set or somewhere close.'

The traffic was atrocious and it took them a lot longer to get to the hotel than it would if they were in Ohio. When they reached the hotel and walked into the foyer, Kurt gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth.

'Oh my goodness,' he breathed, 'oh wow. This is… this is beautiful.'

'It is, isn't it?' Blaine agreed, similarly stunned by the elegance of the hotel. He'd stayed there before and it was one of his favourite places in the world, and he was so thrilled that he would get to share it with Kurt.

The elevator dinged and out stepped Simon and Marcus, whom Kurt hadn't actually seen around in a while. He was like a ghost, sometimes there and sometimes not. But he apparently made the final decisions on what to put in the film and he controlled a lot of what went on behind the scenes. Kurt smiled at him, and only received a nod in return, but he was used to his aloofness by now, and wasn't offended by it. Simon smiled at him hesitantly, and Kurt remembered the argument they'd had a few days previously. But all his resentment towards Simon had vanished – after all, the man _was _the reason that Kurt was in New York at this very second. So he smiled at him warmly and Simon seemed to relax a great deal.

'Welcome to the St. Regis.' he beamed, spreading his arms wide, 'you two will be staying in the Dior Suite, which I thought you would appreciate, Kurt, and you guys have today to do whatever you want – within reason, of course, and you have to have at least one of the guards with you, and we're going to start shooting tomorrow.'

'Right.' Blaine smiled, 'I guess we should get settled in, then?'

'Your bags have already been taken up,' Simon told them, 'so yeah, you're on the thirteenth floor and I've already given you your key cards.'

Kurt and Blaine smiled at him and walked over to the elevator, stepping inside. Blaine swiftly pressed the button for the thirteenth floor.

'So, New York, huh?' Blaine commented conversationally, 'enjoying it so far?'

'I think I'll enjoy it a lot more later when we actually go out and do something.' Kurt replied, 'but I am in awe of this place. It's amazing.'

'Just wait until you see our room.' Blaine winked, as the elevator doors slid open. He checked the numbers on the door, and finding the appropriate one, swiped his key card. He pushed open the door and Kurt stepped in after him, his mouth falling open.

'Oh my god,' he gasped, 'this – this is not happening. This is absolutely unreal. We can't be staying here.'

'Get used to it, you superstar.' Blaine grinned, shutting the door.

The carpets were a pale grey and the walls panelled in off white. The furniture was designer and exquisite, with white frames and beautiful pale blue-grey fabrics. The walls were hung with tasteful pictures and Kurt spun around in a circle, taking it all in, before sinking onto one of the extravagant couches and tearing up.

'Hey – what's wrong?' Blaine asked, concerned. Kurt smiled tearfully up at him and shook his head.

'I just don't believe this.' he replied, his voice breaking, 'this is so unreal.'

Blaine sat next to him and took his hands in his.

'You deserve all of this,' he told him softly, 'and so much more. You'll _get_ so much more than this. This is just the start. So get used to being treated like a star, because that's what you are. Okay?'

Kurt's smile widened and, to Blaine's surprise, he leaned in and kissed him softly.

'Thank you. So, where are we sleeping?'

'I'm guessing that Simon told you that we would be sharing a um, bed?'

'Bed?' Kurt repeated, paling, 'he said sharing a room… not a bed.'

'Well, I'll crash on the couch if you're not comfortable with sharing.' Blaine told him awkwardly, 'I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable…'

'No, it's okay.' Kurt assured him, 'it's not like we haven't in the past…'

There was a small silence and Kurt broke it by laughing.

'Wow. I'm in New York.'

He stood and spun in another circle, pulling Blaine up and spinning him around.

'I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!' he sung, dancing around happily. Blaine watched him, amazed by his enthusiasm. He knew that just by being so excited, Kurt was going to make the trip so much better for everyone else. They danced around their room for a while before they got worn out and collapsed back on the couch. Feeling the sudden need to be close to Kurt, Blaine pulled him so that he was half on top of him. Kurt leaned his head against Blaine's shoulder and hummed happily.

'I'm glad I'm here with you.' he told him, 'I think this trip is really going to benefit us both.'

'I sure hope so.' Blaine replied quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of Kurt's head.

* * *

**Next chapter will get interesting. The boy's first few days in New York and perhaps we'll see something more from Blaine? We'll see!**

**So let me know what you think and I'll have the next chapter tomorrow! Man, updating regularly feels good!**


	22. Chapter 22

'Where do you want to go first?' Blaine asked Kurt a little while later, once they'd become bored of sitting on the couch. He should have expected the answer of '_Broadway' _he received almost instantly, but had to say no.

'We shouldn't go just yet,' he told him, to which Kurt pouted, 'it'll be a lot more special when we can actually take you to see something _on _Broadway, which I'm pretty sure Simon is organizing anyway.'

'I'm pretty sure being able to say that I actually went and _saw _Broadway is special enough where I come from.' Kurt replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Blaine gave him a soft look and placed his arm on his shoulder.

'Please, Kurt? I want to make this something you never forget.'

Kurt's determined look vanished and he nodded. It was _Broadway_, and he wanted to go there more than anything in the world, but how could he say no to Blaine? Especially since he was already planning something to do with Broadway, so it wasn't like he wouldn't go there at all – it would just a little delayed.

He sighed and then nodded.

'Fine, but we _are _going to go there.' Kurt told him firmly, 'what do you want to do now?'

'Hmm, I don't know. Perhaps Central Park?' Blaine mused, 'it would be nice to go for a walk – and we can sort of escape from our security while we're there if we run away fast enough.'

The last part was said with a smile, and Kurt didn't know how to feel about now being well known enough to be in danger of being mobbed or attacked or whatever. He had always wanted to be famous, but he wanted to be Broadway famous – not Hollywood famous.

But a walk in Central Park did sound lovely, and Kurt was excited to do the typical tourist sightseeing. They went back downstairs – Simon had long since gone out, but Blaine phoned up their driver and asked him to come and pick them up.

'So… now that we're in New York,' Blaine started, scratching his neck nervously, 'um, there's a lot more… freedom, I think. And uh… the press doesn't know we're here yet so…'

He held out his hand hesitantly, and Kurt slipped his hand into Blaine's. Blaine smiled at him.

'Progress.' Kurt commented lightly, staring out into the street. A few moments later their car pulled up, and Kurt smiled at him, opening the door, 'very impressive.'

The drive to Central Park took about fifteen minutes, though it probably would have taken less without the traffic. Kurt figured that the city would be constantly congested, and that he should probably get used to it now before he moved there and had to put up with it on a daily basis.

When they stepped into Central Park, Kurt was blown away by the sheer size and beauty of it. His face had started to hurt from smiling so much, and he began to pull Blaine along the paths at a rapid pace, trying to see as much of it as possible before they had to go back to the hotel.

'What are you doing?' Blaine laughed, pulling back on Kurt's hand to slow him down, 'we've got all day. We're meant to _amble_, Kurt, not rush around. We're relaxing.'

Kurt poked his tongue out at Blaine, but slowed down considerably, one of their guards tailing them at a safe distance. He tightened his grip on Blaine's hand and they set off at a comfortable, slow pace, admiring the greenery. A few inline skaters skated around them, barely missing them, causing Blaine to pull Kurt close into his body. Their eyes met for a moment, before they looked away, embarrassed. Kurt stepped away from Blaine but still kept a hold on his hand.

'This is so nice,' Kurt sighed a while later, while they were crossing a bridge. He leaned against the railing and stared out over the water, a dreamy expression on his face. Blaine smiled at the sight, before pulling out his phone and snapping a photo. Kurt turned, hearing the shutter, and frowned at Blaine.

'Don't take photos!' he whined, 'I always look horrible in photos!'

'No, you don't,' Blaine disagreed, smiling at the screen, 'you look lovely.'

Kurt looked at the photo and had to admit that it wasn't as horrible as he would have thought. At least the scenery around him looked spectacular, and his hair looked rather nice.

'I'm putting this one as my wallpaper,' Blaine told him, 'I've still got the old one. I'm putting this on Twitter, too.'

'No, don't put it on Twitter!' Kurt protested, 'people will know we're here and then it won't be as peaceful.'

'People will know we're here by the end of the day,' Blaine chuckled, pressing a few buttons on his phone, 'you should think about getting a Twitter.'

Kurt scoffed and Blaine put his phone away. They stared at each other for a moment, not knowing what to do. They both wanted to keep walking, but didn't know whether they should hold hands or not. Blaine cleared his throat and gestured forward.

'Should we uh, keep going?' he asked. Kurt looked at him for a moment as though he had something to say, but he nodded and smiled.

'Sure.'

They continued on their walk, without holding hands this time. Blaine found that he continuously started to reach for Kurt's hand, but he pulled it away each time. Eventually he stuffed his hand into his pockets to stop himself from trying.

They walked around for a while more before settling down on a park bench. Kurt shivered; it was quite cold, and Blaine hesitated for a moment before putting his arm around Kurt's waist and pulling him to his side.

When Kurt looked up at him questioningly, he shrugged.

'You looked cold.' Blaine told him, blushing faintly. Kurt smiled softly and snuggled into Blaine's side, just as they were approached by two teenage girls.

'You're Blaine Anderson!' one giggled, pulling her friend close. The other giggled too, and Kurt slid away from Blaine.

'You're Kurt Hummel.' the other giggled, and Kurt couldn't help but smile, surprised that she knew who he was.

'Um, we were just wondering…' the first started, looking both excited and nervous.

'Can we have your autograph?' the other blurted out, '_both_ your autographs, thanks.'

She shoved a piece of paper and a marker in Kurt's direction and he took them.

'Um, sure,' he laughed nervously, 'who should I make it out to?'

'I'm Kayla,' the second girl told him, 'and my friend's name is Sarah.'

Kurt scribbled a quick message to them and signed with a flourish. Kayla beamed confidently at him, while Sarah hung back slightly, blushing madly. Blaine signed the paper too and handed it back to Kayla, who winked at him.

'Thank you.' she smiled in what she probably thought was a seductive manner, 'you know, you're _far _more attractive in person than on television, if that's even possible…'

Kurt tried not to glare at her and Sarah pulled on her arm.

'Come on, Kayla,' she muttered, thinking Kurt and Blaine couldn't hear, 'stop it, Kayla. They're obviously happy together.'

She turned back to Kurt and Blaine, 'thank you for the autographs; it was lovely meeting the two of you.'

Kurt and Blaine smiled at them and Sarah dragged Kayla away.

'They're obviously happy together.' Blaine repeated after a moment. Kurt shot him a confused glance and Blaine laughed weakly, 'happy _together_. Right.'

'Well, we're sort of huddled together. People would be right to assume things; it certainly _looks _like we're cosy together.' Kurt reasoned, though he slid further away from Blaine. Blaine found he missed the warmth of Kurt next to him, so he slid closer to him.

'Well then… let them assume.' he declared, though he said it slowly and without much conviction. In fact, he sounded rather terrified.

'You're not ready for that.' Kurt shook his head, sliding further down the bench. Blaine took a hold of his hand and tried to pull him back.

'You don't know that.'

'I _do_ know that.' Kurt replied firmly, 'and it's okay. You can stop acting like this, you have no obligation to.'

'But what if I want to?' Blaine sighed, 'come on. We're just sitting together.'

'Blaine…' Kurt bit his lip, trying to slide away. However when he did, he slid too far and fell off the park bench, sprawling on the floor. Blaine looked at him, horrified, but Kurt burst out laughing, and pulled Blaine off the bench.

People walking past looked at them as though they had gone insane; they were older probably didn't have any idea who Kurt and Blaine were, which only made them giggle harder. Blaine stood clumsily and pulled Kurt to his feet, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist. They locked eyes, much as they had earlier, and Blaine found himself leaning in. Kurt pushed him away gently, clearing his throat awkwardly.

'Not here.' he muttered, stepping away from Blaine and dusting off his coat, 'we wouldn't want people getting the wrong impression. Shall we continue walking?'

He set off without waiting for a reply, and Blaine found himself staring after him, dumbstruck. Why didn't Kurt want to kiss him? And since when did he care about what other people thought? Was Kurt seriously losing interest in Blaine? The thought itself made him feel sick – he didn't know what he would do if it were true. If he had waited too long and in doing so, had pushed Kurt away, he would hate himself.

He followed Kurt and fell into step with him. They walked in silence for a moment more, before Kurt again began his excited chatter about Broadway and what shows he wanted to see. Blaine was only half-listening; he was too distracted by the fact that Kurt might not have the same feelings for him anymore.

He knew it was only a matter of asking, but it would lead to an awkward conversation – one he didn't really want to have. It was a mere two days ago that Kurt yelled at him to get his act together, and he had for the most part. How would he ask Kurt to be his boyfriend if he didn't even know he liked him?

'Are you listening to me?' Kurt asked after a moment, sounding a little frustrated.

'Mm?' Blaine turned to face him, and saw Kurt staring at him curiously, 'oh, of course. Sure. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?'

He had spotted a hotdog stand not too far ahead and Kurt saw it too, looking excited.

'Wow, a New York style hotdog!' he exclaimed, 'sure!'

He dug around in his satchel for his wallet, but found it wasn't there. He sighed and stamped his foot against the floor impatiently.

'I don't have my wallet on me,' he sighed, 'maybe next time.'

'Don't be stupid,' Blaine frowned, 'I'll pay for you.'

'You pay for everything.' Kurt replied, sounding cross, 'I don't want you to pay.'

'Hey, you being here is payback enough.' Blaine smiled at him, 'I'll buy you a hotdog, come on.'

He dragged Kurt over to the stand and ordered two hotdogs. Upon receiving them, Kurt bit into one and his eyes grew wide.

'This is amazing!' he exclaimed, 'wow! I really need to move here.'

'You were going to anyway, weren't you?' Blaine asked, 'for college?'

'In an ideal world,' Kurt sighed, 'I mean, I would love to, but then again, it's so exclusive. There are so many other people out there who are a lot more talented than I am. I don't know.'

Blaine nudged him, frowning.

'Don't even. You're the most talented person that I've ever met.'

'You must not have met many people then.' Kurt muttered. Blaine sighed and grabbed his free hand, happy he had an excuse to hold his hand.

'Don't be stupid, Kurt. You're amazing.' he told him softly. Kurt smiled at him gently and squeezed his hand, not letting go. Blaine felt very proud of himself, and they ate in silence. When Kurt finished his hotdog, he pulled Blaine to his side and leaned his head against Blaine's shoulder.

'This is really, really nice.' he repeated his words from earlier, 'I've never been so relaxed in my life.'

A few hours had passed since coming to the park, and they'd walked a fair distance. Blaine's legs were beginning to burn, and he was trying to think of another place they could go that didn't require so much walking.

'Are you cool with staying here?' he asked Kurt, 'or is there anywhere else you want to go?'

Kurt looked thoughtful for a while, and Blaine almost thought he was going to say Broadway again, but he didn't.

'I'm not really sure.' he replied slowly.

'I mean, we'll get other days off.' Blaine told him, 'it's not like this is the one day off we'll have in our time here. Simon is usually pretty good with that sort of stuff.'

'Well, I would say Times Square but I'd rather go there at night,' Kurt mused, 'where do you want to go? You _are _the New York expert, after all.'

'Why don't we go see the Empire State Building?' Blaine suggested, 'I mean, it might be a little cliché and all but the views are um… spectacular.'

He regretted the words as soon as they'd left his mouth. He was terrified of heights, and the one time Simon had dragged him to the top of the Empire State Building, he'd thrown up violently, much to everyone's chagrin. Kurt, however, looked incredibly excited at the prospect and agreed quickly. Blaine resisted the urge to groan loudly and he forced a smile, quickly texting for someone to pick them up.

On the drive over, Blaine couldn't stop his foot from tapping nervously against the floor of the car. Kurt seemed to notice, and he completely misinterpreted the action.

'Wow, you're really excited to get up there, aren't you?' he asked, smiling. Blaine gave him a strained smile and he nodded, and Kurt patted his knee.

'We'll be there soon enough.' he assured him, looking out the window. Blaine faced the other was and exhaled, wiping the sweat that had suddenly formed on his forehead.

They reached the building quickly, and once at the bottom, even looking up at the top made Blaine queasy. Even so, he decided to brave his fears; he didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Kurt, especially since _he _was the one who had suggested it. Flying in a plane was a different story – at least he wasn't able to _see _that much outside of the plane, and when he did, it was just the sky. He would be able to see the ground – the cold, hard, concrete ground, which would reduce him to nothing at all if he so happened to fall.

They paid for their tickets and were shot to the top by an elevator. Kurt looked around excitedly, while Blaine kept his eyes shut, squeezed somewhere near the back of the elevator, trying to breathe deeply. When they reached the top, Kurt squealed excitedly, but Blaine felt his knees turn to something reminiscent of jelly.

'Come on, Blaine,' Kurt laughed, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the elevator. They were on the 86th floor Observatory, which was pretty full of people, which only served to make Blaine more nervous. He chuckled weakly at Kurt and managed to stagger forward, with absolutely no intention of looking over the edge.

'I want to look over the edge!'

Kurt dashed forward and Blaine groaned loudly once he was out of earshot. He followed Kurt, shuffling through the crowd of people, and joined Kurt at the edge. Though they were quite safe where they were standing, he kept his eyes forward, not looking down, but Kurt was right at the edge, having no problem looking down at the ground.

'Everything looks so tiny!' he remarked excitedly, 'look at this! Blaine. Blaine! You're not looking!'

Blaine suppressed another groan and glanced down for the slightest moment. He felt the world around him begin to spin wildly. He exhaled shakily and stared forward again, out over the city, not feeling any less sick.

'You're not looking.' Kurt frowned, 'why aren't you looking? Is it boring when you've seen it before?'

'Oh… um… no, it's still pretty interesting.' Blaine replied offhandedly.

'Well, look with me!' Kurt smiled, gesturing over the railing. Blaine squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, quietly so Kurt wouldn't notice. He cracked open his eyes and looked down and felt his stomach lurch. Not caring about keeping up appearances, he clapped his hand over his mouth and stepped away from the edge, his legs shaking.

A moment later he felt Kurt's hand on his back and his concerned voice in his ear.

'Blaine? Are you alright?' he asked, sounding worried. Blaine swallowed back the bile in his throat and cringed at the taste. He decided that he had probably already lost his dignity by almost throwing up, and he shook his head. Kurt led him to a relatively empty spot on the observatory and sat him down. Blaine was white and shaky, as though he would throw up everywhere at any given moment. Kurt bit his head and looked around, spotting a rather pleasant looking mother, herding her children, carrying a bottle of water. He quickly went up to her and smiled charmingly.

'Hey,' he greeted her, 'sorry, um, my friend is feeling a little sick – I think he's afraid of heights, and I was wondering if I could buy that water bottle off you.'

She glanced over Kurt's shoulder and saw Blaine, looking pale and miserable. She clicked her tongue sympathetically.

'I have more,' she told him, reaching into her backpack, 'you can have an unopened one. Can never have enough water when you've got your kids with you! The poor dear, he looks terrible.'

She handed him the bottle and Kurt grinned at her, thanking her sincerely. He rushed back to Blaine and slipped his arm around him, handing him the bottle. Blaine opened it with shaky hands and took a generous sip.

'Fuck.' he breathed, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

'Are you afraid of heights?' Kurt asked softly. Blaine bit his lip and nodded after a moment.

'Terrified of them.' he replied weakly. Kurt sighed.

'Why on earth would you suggest we go to the tallest building in like, the universe if you're afraid of heights?' he asked. Blaine shrugged.

'I wasn't thinking.' he replied, staring at the floor. His head was spinning, 'I thought you would have declined.'

'Oh, Blaine…'

Kurt wrapped his other arm around him and hugged him tightly.

'When you feel better, we'll go back down and we'll do something totally mundane, like I don't know, we'll get fries and sit on a bench and talk about the things that I'm afraid of.'

Blaine smiled weakly at him and took another long drink from the bottle, getting to his feet shakily. The water had helped a little, and so had Kurt's support, but he felt as though Kurt secretly thought he was childish, or weak. They started to make their way down to the bottom of the building, and once Blaine had reached firm, solid ground, he felt a lot better. The queasiness was wearing off and he felt more himself.

Kurt took his hand and held it tightly, as though he was afraid Blaine would disappear if he let him go.

'Blaine, you should have told me earlier that you didn't want to go.' he told him sternly, 'in future, if you feel uncomfortable doing _anything _at all, I want you to tell me. Okay?'

Blaine nodded, smiling at him to assure him that he was okay. They wandered down the street and found a vendor, from who they purchased fries to share just as Kurt had said before. They found a small, relatively quiet area to sit and Kurt looked thoughtful for a while.

'I'm afraid of spiders,' he admitted after a while, 'like, not bugs or anything. Just spiders. They terrify me more than anything in the world. Seriously, when I see them, it's like my entire body shuts down.'

'Why?' Blaine asked curiously. He wasn't a fan of spiders, but he wasn't scared of them either. Kurt shrugged.

'They're just… everywhere. They can get into the smallest places and you'll never even know they're there and they're just so creepy and awkward and ugh,' he shuddered, 'especially when they run. They're just disgusting.'

'Well, I am very obviously afraid of heights,' Blaine laughed, thinking back to the building, 'when I was younger I fell out of a tree and broke my arm and since then I just can't handle them.'

'I'm a little afraid of the dark.' Kurt told him, 'just a bit. The more I think about it, the more it freaks me out. You never know what could be hiding in there.'

'I'm afraid of mental institutions,' Blaine confessed, 'nothing against the people inside them, I know they can't help how they are and I feel so bad for them, but they terrify me. Especially movies about mental institutions. I can't even watch them half the time. They're so terrifying.'

'I'm afraid of…' Kurt stopped and thought for a moment, 'failure.'

'Failure? That's understandable.'

'No, but you have no idea.' Kurt shook his head, 'seriously, I'm so scared that I'm never going to get out of Lima. That I'm going to stay there forever and I'll amount to nothing, just like so many people have said before.'

'You're never going to be a failure,' Blaine assured him, placing his hand on Kurt's knee, 'look where you are – you're in New York. You're never going to be a failure. You're already not a failure – you've done so much in the past few months. Don't ever worry about being a failure.'

'But… I don't want to end up a Lima loser,' Kurt replied softly, 'I don't want to be some sort of has-been. I just want to be a success. That's all I want.'

'You're going to be a success. You'll be a lot more than that, alright? Even I'm already so proud of you.'

Kurt smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek.

'You're a great guy, Blaine,' he told him, 'I'm really sorry I yelled at you the other day.'

'You had every right to yell at me.' Blaine replied, blushing faintly, 'I was treating you badly. You deserve a lot more. And… and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to give you that.'

Kurt looked a little surprised, but pleased all the same.

'What do you mean?' he asked, a little smile on his lips. Blaine exhaled slowly.

'I don't know.' he replied honestly, 'I mean, I _think _I know, but I want to be sure. I mean, I'm getting there. I don't know where _there _is, but I'm making progress.'

He looked at Kurt, and Kurt felt himself leaning in to kiss Blaine. Blaine, as tempting as it was, turned his head to avoid the kiss.

'I don't want to,' he told him, and Kurt's expression dropped, 'I – I mean, I don't want to until I'm _sure_. I want the next time we kiss to mean something. Not that it _hasn't_ when we have before, but I want it to be special. The most special kiss I've ever had. Okay?'

Kurt nodded in agreement, and settled back in his seat, chewing on a fry thoughtfully.

'Well, when you're ready for whatever you're preparing for, I'll be here for you,' he assured Blaine, 'whether it'll benefit me or not.'

'Oh, I'm sure you'll be pleased with the result.' Blaine smiled, kissing Kurt on the cheek, 'you're a fantastic guy, Kurt. The – the best I've ever met. So I'm going to treat you as such.'

'You don't have to do anything.' Kurt assured him.

'Ha.' Blaine scoffed, 'you'll see. Starting… tonight. I'm going to take you out to dinner and then we'll go see something on Broadway and then you'll see. Alright?'

Kurt smiled giddily and giggled.

'Alright. That sound really nice.' he agreed.

They sat there in silence, finishing their food, enjoying each other's company. Blaine felt decidedly more confident in how Kurt felt about him now, and was determined to give him the best night out of his life. By the end of it, Kurt would be head over heels for him, and _then_ he would ask him to be his boyfriend. It was a fool proof plan, one which would end fantastically for the both of them.

He hoped.

* * *

**Will Blaine's plans to woo Kurt go off without a hitch? Or will something get in their way? Hopefully not, because Lord knows I've made you guys wait long enough for them to get together.**

**Sorry about missing yesterday, but I was dragged to a party that I didn't exactly realize was a party and I got home really late and not in a… sober state of mind, per se. I would have uploaded, but it probably would have looked like this: hwoeifha heoawihihwfobwueoa h239h3idhib iubfuaeawilehaw. **

**So here's todays, and you will have tomorrow's tomorrow. I neglect so much school work for this story, haha. So worth it! Let me know what you thought and I will see you guys tomorrow!**

**Love you all! **


	23. Chapter 23

Simon scored them two tickets to see 'Rent' on Broadway, which Kurt was absolutely over the moon about. It was one of his all-time favourite musicals, and other than 'Wicked', he couldn't think of a better first show to see. It took him over an hour to get ready for the night – Blaine had eventually given up and gone upstairs to use Simon's bathroom to get ready himself.

It was a big night for him. If everything went well, there was absolutely no way he wouldn't be asking Kurt to be his boyfriend.

The day had gone spectacularly – even with the incident on the Empire State Building. He'd also seen Meredith for a little while, which had put a slight damper on his day as he wasn't aware she would be tagging along, but apart from that, the day had gone off without a hitch and he hoped that everything would go just as well throughout the evening.

He gelled his hair lightly so that the curls were manageable, and he dressed rather nicely, considering he was taking Kurt out to dinner before the show. He stared at himself critically in the mirror, trying to perfect his hair, when Simon walked in.

'You look snazzy.' he commented, reaching around Blaine for his razor and shaving cream. Blaine figured Simon had his own plans for the evening, if he was bothering with shaving.

'Thanks,' he replied, 'but I can't get my hair to stay. It's too… unruly.'

'It looks fine.' Simon assured him, a smile twitching at his lips, 'why do you care so much anyway? It's just dinner and a show.'

Blaine didn't reply, but tried to style his hair some more. It didn't seem to sit the way he wanted it to, and he sighed, giving up.

Simon slathered shaving cream on his face and ran his razor under the tap, beginning to shave his cheek, 'looks to me like you're trying to impress a certain someone.'

'And what if I am?" Blaine shot back nervously, patting his own cheeks. He'd grown some serious stubble since last shaving and couldn't decide whether he liked it or not. He usually let his facial hair grow when he wasn't filming so that people wouldn't recognize him as easily, but he didn't know if it was suitable for a date. Well, at least what he considered a date.

'Then you'll succeed,' Simon smiled, moving onto the other cheek, 'and leave the stubble; it makes you look more grown up.'

Blaine smiled at him and attempted to fix his hair once more before giving up completely. His phone went off in his pocket anyway – it was Kurt, telling him that he was ready to go. They had dinner reservations at six, and the show started at eight.

He said goodbye to Simon, who wished him luck, though he didn't know anything about Blaine's plans to ask Kurt out. Blaine left Simon's suite and took the elevator back to his floor, where Kurt was waiting for him.

When he saw Kurt, dressed immaculately, his hair styled to perfection, he had no doubt that he would go through with his plan. He'd seen Kurt angry, and upset, and laughing, and looking so flawless as he did right now, and he admired him in whatever state he was in. But right now he looked like some sort of angel, and Blaine found that words were sticking in his throat like glue.

'You look, um,' he stammered, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Kurt glanced down at himself self-consciously, clearing his throat.

'Do I look –' he started, but Blaine seemed to find his voice as Kurt was talking.

'Flawless.' he interrupted, 'you look flawless.'

Kurt's cheeks tinged pink and a silly grin spread across his face. He stepped forward and took Blaine's arm.

'You look pretty fantastic yourself,' he told him, and Blaine laced their fingers together, holding Kurt's hand loosely at his side.

'Shall we go?' he asked, gesturing towards the elevator. Kurt nodded excitedly, and they took the elevator down the foyer, where a car was waiting to take them to their dinner reservations.

'Where are we going?' Kurt asked once they were on their way.

'A place called Daniel,' Blaine replied, 'it's French.'

Neither of them noticed the apparent reference to Blaine's ex-boyfriend. Honestly, Blaine hadn't even realized. His mind hadn't been on Daniel at all since Kurt had come into the question.

'I love French food!' Kurt exclaimed happily. Blaine glanced at him sideways and smiled.

'I know you do.'

Kurt was blown away by the class of the restaurant when they had entered and approached the maître d'.

'Um, I have a six o'clock reservation under 'Anderson'.' Blaine told him, and the kind looking man in the three piece suit flipped through his log book. He glanced down a list until he found a name, and then smiled.

'Right this way, sirs,' he instructed them with a very faint French accent. Kurt and Blaine followed him to a lovely intimate table, set away from the others, just as Blaine had requested. Blaine quickly stepped in front of Kurt and pulled his chair out for him, and Kurt blushed faintly in the candlelight before sitting down.

'Thank you.' he smiled warmly, as Blaine went to his own seat. They were handed menus and Kurt's eyes boggled at the prices.

'Um, I think I'll have a water.' he told Blaine quietly. Blaine raised his eyebrow at him – he wasn't used to money being something to worry about, whereas Kurt hadn't had the wealthiest upbringing. Blaine glanced down at the menu and saw that it might have been considered expensive.

'You will order whatever you want.' Blaine replied firmly, looking at him sternly, 'and I'm paying, so don't even worry about it, alright?'

Kurt opened his mouth to hesitate, but Blaine shot him another stern look and he fell silent, looking over the menu. The food sounded amazing, and a little while later Kurt and Blaine ordered their entrees – coincidentally ordering the same thing at the same time, which made them share a smile.

The entrees were amazing, and Kurt found himself more engrossed in his food than in Blaine to start with. Blaine would try and start conversation, only to receive one word replies from Kurt, who was digging into the food as though he'd never eaten before in his life. Blaine had to admit that it was rather delicious, but he did want to talk to Kurt. He propped his chin up in his hand and sighed.

'Enjoying the food?' he asked after a moment, only to be met by a strange noise which sounded somewhat like a 'yes'. Blaine stabbed at his ravioli, choosing to stay silent until Kurt had recovered from the taste of the food and felt up to talking again.

It came after they had ordered their main course; roasted veal for Blaine and duck for Kurt. Kurt smiled sweetly at him as they waited, taking a sip of water.

'It was so sweet of you to bring me here.' he told him, 'apart from when you took me out to dinner that first time, no one's ever done anything like this for me.'

'Well, I'm glad I could,' Blaine replied softly, 'there's no one else I would rather be here with, to be honest.'

There was a small silence and Kurt looked at Blaine curiously for a moment, before his expression softened.

'Me either.'

They chatted easily until their mains arrived, and even then Kurt continued talking, even once he'd expressed his admiration for the food.

'Oh, Blaine, you _must _try this!' he gasped, shifting his chair closer to Blaine's around the little round table. He speared a piece of duck onto his fork and, not breaking eye contact with Blaine, fed him the piece.

It was delicious, and oddly erotic to be fed food by someone else in such an intimate way. The two started to share their food after that, each feeding the other little morsels off their own plates, giggling as they did so. It attracted some looks from the older patrons of the restaurant, but they didn't really care. They were enjoying themselves far too much to pay attention to anyone else.

They shared a chocolate coulant for dessert, feeling rather full from their main course. At the end of the meal, Blaine didn't even let Kurt see the amount they had to pay, and they left the restaurant hand in hand, now under the cover of darkness and not having to worry about being seen by paparazzi. Not that Blaine wouldn't have even minded at this point; he was drunk off the feeling of being around Kurt. He had a beautiful, incredibly relaxed dinner with him; it had felt so natural to talk and laugh with Kurt and to hold his hand under the table. He hadn't even considered the thought that Kurt was a boy and that he was a boy and he was meant to be _straight _all evening; he figured that Nick had been right – when the right person came along, it didn't even matter.

But now it was time to go to the place Kurt anticipated the most – Broadway. Blaine could feel Kurt buzzing with electricity in the car on the drive there, and his excitement was more than infectious. Though he'd been to more plays than he could count, this was something memorable. It was Kurt's first Broadway play. It was his first Broadway play with someone who meant so much to him, and that in itself was incredibly exciting.

There were quite a few people milling around when they got there; there always were. It made Blaine happy to see that some people's love of theatre would never die. Though he was a Hollywood actor, he would always appreciate the stage and what Broadway stars put themselves through to put on a good performance. He dragged Kurt inside and went to go sort out their tickets, leaving Kurt to his own excitement momentarily.

There was some hassle when he went to get their tickets – apparently there had been a mix-up and his bookings hadn't gone quite right. This then had to be sorted out by a phone call to Simon, who seemed rather annoyed at being disturbed. Blaine sighed and drummed his fingers against his thighs while he waited. He glanced into the crowd and saw Kurt chatting animatedly with a young man. He looked about their age, but he couldn't quite make out his features from where he was. He watched Kurt laugh with the boy, feeling an odd sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, the drumming against his thighs becoming more anxious. Finally, the apologetic tickets saleswoman handed over their tickets and Blaine thanked her profusely.

Now that he was closer, he could see the boy more clearly. He was well dressed, but wasn't the most attractive boy Blaine had ever seen. He had nice, dark eyes and matching dark hair, but he couldn't have been more than average looking. But then he smiled, and his entire face lit up like a beacon. His smile was absolutely perfect, and even from where he was standing he could see Kurt swoon slightly at the boy's grin.

Blaine raised his fingers to his own lips, feeling suddenly self-conscious about his own smile. He had often wondered if it was too big in comparison to the rest of his face, which would have made him look comical rather than attractive. He rolled his eyes – he was being ridiculous – and made his way over to Kurt, at apparently just the right number.

'- could I have your number, perhaps? Maybe we could get a coffee after the show?' the boy was saying. Blaine saw red and he slipped his arm around Kurt's waist and pulled him close. Obviously the boy didn't recognize him, because he narrowed his eyes at Blaine.

'Hey, sweetie, the show is about to start!' he told Kurt, who spun around, confused. He smiled sweetly at him, and the expression Kurt gave him practically screamed 'what are you doing?'.

'Right… honey…' Kurt replied, forcing a smile onto his face, 'I guess we'd better go then. It was nice meeting you, Michael.'

'You too, Kurt,' Michael replied giving Kurt a small wave and Blaine a final glare before walking off in the opposite direction. As soon as he was out of sight, Kurt spun around and hit Blaine in the chest.

'What was that?' he demanded, '_sweetie_? Are you out of your _mind_?'

'I – he was flirting with you.' Blaine replied helplessly, gesturing in the direction Michael had just gone, 'I mean… I…'

'And what – boys aren't allowed to flirt with me?' Kurt asked hotly, narrowing his eyes at Blaine, 'what is wrong with you?'

It was almost eight o'clock and the theatre doors were being opened. Blaine glanced at the people beginning to walk towards the door and then glanced back at Kurt.

'I was jealous.' he admitted, though there was bite to his tone, 'sue me.'

He turned and walked in the direction of the door, and Kurt was quick to follow. He wanted to apologize, especially when Blaine all but shoved his ticket into his hand. He didn't want them to be fighting – not when he was about to see his first Broadway show. It wasn't fair.

The seats Simon had got them were absolutely spectacular, and both Kurt and Blaine found their annoyance with each other disappearing within the first few minutes of the first act. Soon enough Kurt was leaning his head against Blaine's shoulder, mouthing the dialogue and words to the songs silently. Blaine slipped his arm around Kurt's shoulder so that Kurt could lean more comfortably, and Kurt quickly leaned up and kissed Blaine's cheek, as a sign that all had been forgiven on his part. The resulting kiss on top of his head from Blaine was assurance from him, and Kurt found it easier to enjoy the show.

When the two actors onstage began to sing _I'll Cover You_, their hands joined almost unconsciously, and Kurt felt Blaine rest his head on top of his. Kurt smiled as he watched, still mouthing the words to the song, feeling butterflies speed through him. He was having the time of his life – it had to be the best night of his life so far, and even despite their little argument outside, nothing had spoiled it; or the day they had beforehand.

But Blaine had been jealous of the boy flirting with him, which had to mean _something_, right? He could have said he was looking out for him, or trying to protect him from sleazy New Yorkers, but he had admitted to being jealous. So Blaine was obviously making some sort of progress.

Kurt was in tears by the end of the play – he'd never been able to stop the tears from flowing when he watched Rent. The lights went up and the cast was given a standing ovation, Kurt clapping enthusiastically, tears streaming down his cheeks.

His first Broadway play, and it had been sensational. He couldn't wait to feel what it was like to be on that hallowed stage himself, and feel the thunderous applause in his ears all meant for him.

They stepped out of the theatre into the cool night. Kurt was still crying, trying to wipe his eyes discreetly. Blaine noticed and pulled him into a tight hug.

'You okay?' he murmured into Kurt's ear, sending small shivers down Kurt's spine. Kurt nodded against him, holding on to him tightly. He would have loved to go for a walk right now – it seemed like the perfect thing to do after seeing a play, but it would have been dangerous and Simon - or Blaine – never would have allowed it. So he allowed himself to be pulled back into their car and driven back to the hotel, on an absolute high from the night he had just had.

He was over the moon, and he had reason to believe that the tears running down his cheeks were not entirely from the play, but from all the emotions the night had brought on. Never in his life would he have imagined this would happen to _him _of all people – he was used to being harassed and rejected and tormented. But tonight he had been taken out and treated like a million dollars by someone who seemed to genuinely care about him. He was in a slight state of shock as they rode the elevator back to their suite.

Blaine went into the bathroom and Kurt went onto the balcony, leaning against the railing. He stared off into the night, and after a few minutes of listening to nothing but the traffic beneath him, the door to the balcony clicked open and Blaine stepped hesitantly onto the balcony.

He looked nervous – Kurt realized that they _were _rather high up, and he turned to face Blaine so that he wouldn't have to step out much further. Blaine's face was slightly pale, but he looked determined.

'Are you alright being on here?' Kurt asked tentatively. Blaine looked around slowly and after a moment, he nodded, exhaling slowly and stepping further onto the balcony. He seemed a bit shaky so Kurt pulled a chair out for him at the little table, but Blaine shook his head.

'No,' he smiled softly, and Kurt could see that he was rather terrified, 'I'd rather be standing up for this.'

Blaine reached the railing and stared off into the distance. After a while, he sighed.

'You know,' he started, 'facing your fears is really important.'

Kurt cocked his head to the side and studied him carefully. Surely he wasn't talking about the heights, otherwise the trip up the Empire State Building wouldn't have gone so poorly. Blaine bit his lip, gripping the railing with shaky hands, and continued.

'I – I've been facing them a lot lately,' he went on softly, his words drifting into the cool breeze so that they enveloped Kurt, 'not just… being up here. Which is terrifying, but I'm learning. But… I've been facing my inner fears, too.'

He turned to look at Kurt and they locked eyes. Blaine looked at him rather strangely – Kurt couldn't quite place the emotion he was portraying.

'A few months ago if you had even asked me if I'd ever consider dating a boy, I would have freaked out.' Blaine told him seriously, 'after last time, it wasn't something I wanted to go through ever again. But then… Kurt, you changed that.'

Kurt narrowed his eyes slightly, taking in what he was saying. Blaine looked a little scared, as though he'd said something wrong, but he pushed on nevertheless.

'I mean, it's going to sound stupid and cliché, but you changed my perspective on a lot of things; especially myself.' Blaine smiled gently, and he stepped forward and took Kurt's hand, 'you changed how I look at the rest of the world. Seeing you – your courage and your determination, I think it's inspired me to be strong, too. And… um.'

He chuckled weakly and ran his hand through his hair, the gel in it causing it to stick up slightly. Kurt smiled at the sight and Blaine grimaced.

'Falling for someone,' he told Kurt, now completely serious, 'is a lot like being on this balcony, I suppose. It's a lot like being in a very high place. Because you're falling and falling and falling, but with a balcony, you know you're going to hit the bottom. It's all over.'

He took a deep breath and stepped closer to Kurt, taking his other hand.

'With you… I know that there's going to be something there that makes sure I never hit the bottom.'

Kurt's expression softened and he felt his knees turn into something that resembled jelly. Blaine laughed disbelievingly.

'And – and I don't know what this is,' he admitted, 'because I've honestly never – I've never _cared _this much before. About a boy or a girl. I've never cared enough to take them out and – and I've never cared enough to be prepared to give them anything just to see them smile for a second or two. But with you Kurt, I'm prepared to do anything.'

If Kurt was meant to say something now, there was no way he would be able to, because he felt as though someone had torn out his vocal chords. All he could see was the sincerity in Blaine's eyes through the tears in his own.

'So I'm sorry, Kurt, for treating you so bad. Because I was so scared. And maybe I'm scared to go public about this, and tell people. But – but a friend of mine told me that a relationship is only between two people; so who cares about anyone else? All I need is you, and that's how it's meant to be. So, I was just wondering if you would, um… be my every- my boyfriend. Be my boyfriend.'

Kurt's mouth fell open slightly because even at the end of a speech like that, he did _not _expect that. Not from Blaine Anderson. He didn't know what to say, but his eyes were stinging with tears now, and he could see Blaine's expression fall and the grip on his hands loosen slightly.

'Please say something…' Blaine pleaded softly, sounding terrified.

Kurt found he didn't need to, because he threw his arms around Blaine's neck and kissed him firmly on the mouth, bringing him as close as he could possibly get. Blaine reacted instantly, his arms moving to circle Kurt's waist, kissing him as though he depended on it for oxygen.

But they parted after a few moments, and Kurt found himself nodding, lifting his hands to catch the tears falling from his eyes. Blaine laughed, in apparent disbelief.

'Best night ever.' he breathed, and Kurt laughed shakily.

Blaine had said to not tell anyone, and he was fine with that, but he didn't know how he would keep it from Rachel or Mercedes – or anyone else for that matter. His friends would see right through him. But he was determined to make sure Blaine was comfortable for as long as he needed to be before he moved forward in anything.

Eventually the cold wind became too much and they headed inside to get ready for bed. Blaine collected a spare duvet and pillows from the hall closet and made his way to the couch.

'You don't have to sleep on the couch,' Kurt frowned, 'you can share the bed with me.'

'On our first night in a relationship together?' Blaine scoffed lightly, 'I'm sorry, Kurt, that was okay when we were friends, but I want to make sure we do this right and I think this is more appropriate. I don't mind the couch.'

Kurt was rather touched by his chivalry and he pressed a kiss to Blaine's cheek before retreating to the bedroom to get changed into his pyjamas. Once he had finished, he headed out to the kitchen for a glass of water, and saw Blaine was already dozing off on the couch. His eyes were shut and he was breathing evenly, though he didn't look completely asleep. Kurt couldn't help but smile at him, and he crossed over to the couch to press a kiss to the top of Blaine's head.

'Mm, beautiful,' Blaine murmured, barely awake. Kurt flushed and stroked his hair for a moment before setting the cup down on the coffee table and retreating to his own bed.

He sunk into it, suddenly exhausted from the day he'd had. He let his mind wander, replaying the more memorable parts – in particular Blaine's little speech, which still brought tears to his eyes. He was proud of the progress Blaine had made anyway, regardless of their new relationship together. It took a lot to admit something like that to yourself, and he admired his courage. The thought that he, Kurt, had given him the strength to do that sent a little thrill through him. Blaine was an inspiration to _him_ – it meant so much to be able to help Blaine, too.

Sleep came easy to him that night, now that his mind was at peace. He knew he would have a big day filming the next day, and now that it was past eleven, he really should have been getting to bed. He allowed sleep to take him, and he slept deeply and dreamlessly, the day he had just had fulfilling more than enough dreams for a long time.

* * *

**Wasn't that beautiful? Don't you just want your special boy/girl to do something like that for you? I know I would. Dinner… Broadway… luuuurve. Perfection!**

**And… Klaine has been formed! **

***Applause for them* I love them so much. Sometimes I just sit there and I just think about how amazing they are together. Seriously, as a couple they have pulled each other through so much and they're still going strong. I live through them.**

**Next chapter will be up by tomorrow! I love updating regularly. **

**Let me know what you thought of this!**

**Night guys! Love you!**


	24. Chapter 24

Simon sighed, flipping through the glossy magazine in front of him until he reached a medium sized article. He skimmed the heading as he bought a cup of coffee to his lips.

'_Dinner and a show for Kurt and Blaine' _

The article discussed briefly Kurt and Blaine's night; apparently someone had trailed them from their dinner to Broadway, and apparently there were all sorts of speculations surrounding the boys' friendship.

'_Sources indicate that the two boys have become incredibly close on set...'_

Simon rolled his eyes as he finished the article; it was the same drivel that followed Blaine no matter who he took out for dinner. But he was concerned; he knew how hesitant Blaine was about instigating a relationship with Kurt, and rumours about his sexuality and their relationship was the last thing he needed, because Simon had a suspicion that at the first sign of speculation, Blaine would run back into the closet, so to speak, and bolt the door behind him.

* * *

Kurt woke up feeling no different from any other day. His alarm had gone off at five in the morning; he had to be up early to get ready for another day of shooting. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, and as he shut his eyes he was assailed by memories of the previous night; namely, Blaine Anderson becoming his boyfriend.

He grinned at the thought, and hopped lightly out of bed to take a shower and get ready for the day. By the time he had made it into the kitchen, Blaine was already sitting on the countertop, eating a bagel. Kurt hadn't even heard him get up, but he figured that Blaine was a lot more accustomed to the routine than he was. He'd never been one to sleep too late, but quarter to six in the morning was beyond his limits.

'Mm, morning,' Blaine mumbled around a mouthful of bagel, reaching out to take his hand. Swallowing the food, he pulled Kurt close and pressed a chaste kiss on the top of his head, 'did you sleep well?'

'The best.' Kurt replied, feeling slightly giddy. Their interaction seemed so natural, 'what about you?'

Blaine shifted on the countertop, shrugging, 'I slept okay. I mean, I sleep awkwardly on couches anyway, so my back is a little sore.'

'Oh.' Kurt frowned, 'you know, I really don't mind sharing the –'

'Kurt,' Blaine interrupted gently, 'not yet. Okay? It's important that we take this slow.'

'Right.' Kurt fell silent for a moment, a little embarrassed by Blaine's rejection to share the bed with him. That was twice now. 'What's on the agenda for today?'

'Well, we have fifteen minutes until we have to meet Simon down in the lobby.' Blaine replied, finishing the last of his bagel, 'so I'd suggest you eat something. There's food on set, of course, but we don't get lunch until about two and I wouldn't want you passing out on me.'

Kurt smiled at the concern and took a bagel from the box on the counter. He and Blaine talked casually while he ate. There was a complete absence of awkwardness between them, which surprised Kurt. Blaine was his first boyfriend and he had expected the initial awkwardness, but as he had noted earlier, it was completely natural between them. The thought made him smile, which made Blaine smile.

'Why are we smiling?' Blaine asked after a moment, and Kurt's smile split into a grin.

'No reason,' he replied coyly, 'just happy.'

Blaine looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, the smile on his own face fading until it was just barely present. After a few moments of contemplation, he held his hand out. When Kurt slipped his hand into Blaine's, Blaine pulled him close and kissed him soundly on the lips.

'I missed that.' he murmured against Kurt's lips, 'I missed _you_.'

They allowed themselves to stay like that for a few silent moments, their foreheads pressed together, before Blaine slid off the counter and around Kurt.

'Time for us to go!' he announced, breaking the peaceful moment, 'Simon will kill us if we're late, and you know how this New York City traffic goes.'

He bounded out of the room, somehow energetic at six in the morning. Kurt followed him, passing through the living room. His phone was on the table and he grabbed it and turned it on, intending on sending Rachel, Mercedes and his parents messages.

Blaine's attitude had changed towards Kurt once they were out of the hotel room and in the lobby. With a few people milling around, he made sure to keep his distance. Kurt knew that Blaine would need time to go public with their relationship – if he ever did – but he couldn't help but feel a little put out. It was New York City. He wanted to be able to hold his boyfriend's hand.

But his thoughts were soon dashed as Simon met them with a warm smile and instructions for the day.

They were to film a courtroom scene, which Simon ran through them as they were being transported to the court they had booked out. As soon as they got there, it was into hair and makeup and a last minute reading of lines. The scene was very charged and very emotional, and Kurt was made to look sicker than he had ever appeared, and was also stuffed into a reasonable suit. Blaine, of course, looked a lot better than he did, obviously playing the healthy character, but he had already adopted a concerned, distraught sort of expression to suit his role.

'I need you to come run through this scene with me.' Blaine announced rather loudly once they'd been released from the costume department, 'there's something I'm not quite clear on.'

A few people glanced over, and Kurt rolled his eyes, figuring that this was Blaine's idea of a diversion. Blaine took his arm lightly and led him inside the court, twisting through corridors until there was no one in sight. When he was sure they were alone, he pushed Kurt lightly against the wall and kissed him deeply, cradling his face gently as to not smudge his makeup.

'Good luck today.' he told him softly once they'd broken apart, 'not that you need it, you talented thing.'

Kurt smiled at him and kissed him again, a soft, lingering kiss.

'You too, handsome.' he winked, before walking back in the direction of the crew. He stepped outside into the crisp morning, and found Simon, who had apparently been looking for him.

'Kurt! Great!' he smiled, relieved, 'thought you'd run off or something.'

'Never.' Kurt laughed. Over Simon's shoulder, he noticed groups of people lining up against the barriers that were set up to mark off the costume and makeup areas. Security was doing a decent job of making them leave, but he noticed cameras and phones held up, snapping pictures. Suddenly, he felt very self-conscious.

'Ignore them.' Simon told him airily, waving a hand in their general direction, 'now, about this court scene. You're dying, alright? Get that into your mindset. You are Cameron Whitt, and you are dying. For the next however many hours of shooting, you are not Kurt Hummel. Okay? I know how… morbid… that sounds, but you've really got to understand that you're dying and there's not much chance of you getting better unless you win this case. We're going to need tears and we're going to need some believable breakdowns. If you have trouble crying on cue, we can help with that, but you really, _really _need to nail the acting today. Alright?'

Kurt nodded slowly, a little concerned. This would be the first real test of his acting skills; the other scenes were playful and awkward and sarcastic – these things came naturally to him. However he _was _wounded, and high school and even life had not been so kind to him until the movie had come along, and he knew what it felt like to feel broken and afraid and alone. He'd gone through it when he lost his mother and again when he suffered through high school and the bullying that accompanied it. He needed to tap into that well; the well of emotion he had barricaded so long ago. If he could bring back some of those memories, his mother, the bullying, then perhaps – if he didn't break down for real – he would be able to pull it off.

He was Cameron Whitt, and he was dying.

* * *

Easier said than done.

After what had to be a dozen calls of 'cut!' and some exasperated instructions from Simon, Kurt was becoming increasingly frustrated.

Blaine, who had performed flawlessly up until now, called it 'nerves' and squeezed Kurt's hand under the bench discretely for support.

As he fumbled with his lines for perhaps the millionth time, Simon lowered his face to his hands.

'Alright, we're going to take a break.' he called to the crew, and Kurt felt himself blush. He really wasn't delivering today, and he couldn't pinpoint why. He would have liked to believe Blaine, and call it nerves, but he knew it wasn't. He wasn't nervous. He was hesitant. Holding back.

The crew dispersed to grab coffees or whatever, and the moment the opportunity presented itself, Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and dragged him into the disabled toilets, locking it behind them.

'Not the most romantic setting.' Kurt commented morosely, making a very half-hearted attempt at humour. Blaine ignored it and pulled Kurt close, enveloping him in a bear hug, now apparently with no disregard for either boy's hair or makeup.

'It'll get better.' he cooed softly, and Kurt felt tears spring to his eyes. He was _awful._

'I'm terrible.' he moaned, 'I bet Simon a-and everyone regrets hiring me now.'

'No, honey, don't.' Blaine sighed, and held him at arm's length. Kurt saw panic spring to his eyes when he noticed that Kurt was on the verge of crying, 'sweetie, don't cry. Oh god, I'm bad with crying people, please don't cry.'

Kurt sniffled and Blaine bit his lip.

'Actually, maybe crying is good,' he considered, 'maybe it'll help improve your – oh God, it's not like I meant you were _bad_, Kurt.'

'See?' Kurt wailed, now properly crying, 'I'm awful. I'm the worst actor in the world. I –'

There came a sudden knocking on the door, and both boys jumped at the sound.

'Boys?' came Simon's voice, 'are you um, in there?'

'Um… just a second!' Blaine called nervously. He looked around and dived for the roll of toilet paper, tearing off a few squares and folding them up so that he could dab at the tears under Kurt's eyes, 'hush now, you're gonna be okay. You're spectacular, alright? Just… don't hold back. It's acting. Give it your all.'

Kurt sniffed and wiped his eyes gently on the back of his hand. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Blaine was right – he didn't have to hold back so much.

They slid the toilet door open and Simon was waiting for them, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows raised.

'Now boys,' he started in his famous lecturing tone, 'as glad I am that you've got your act together –'

'Oh, we're not together.' Blaine interjected quickly. Simon shot him a look, and Blaine shrunk back, 'sorry.'

'_As I was saying_,' Simon continued, 'you should be practicing lines, because we have deadlines to meet, rather than making out in disabled toilets.'

'We weren't.' Kurt spoke up quietly, 'I was upset. Blaine was consoling me.'

Simon stared at him for a long moment.

'Come with me.' he ordered, and took Kurt's arm to lead him away from Blaine and the rest of the crew, who were casting suspicious looks at the toilet and the boys.

Kurt was nervous. He knew that a lecture was imminent, and he didn't know how he'd handle being grilled.

But to his surprise, Simon looked at him sadly.

'Stop holding back.' he told him gently, 'because I _know _you have your lines down, and I _know _that you know what you have to do. Okay? Stop holding back. I don't know what you're so afraid of, but Kurt, this is _acting_. This is about… about portraying _emotion_, and _evoking _emotion from others, alright? You… you have to tear yourself apart and make yourself vulnerable and _raw_. That's what acting is. It's easy to ghost emotions onscreen, but I know you're capable of so much more. Blaine might have pushed us to pick you, but I know that there's so much potential in you, and if you can pull this film off, god knows what kind of opportunities will present themselves.'

Kurt didn't feel like crying anymore, because Simon was right, after all. He threw himself into singing songs at glee club – and that was just in front of his friends and teacher. He poured his soul into his clothes and his singing and cooking because even though he _was_ strong, he was full of emotion, and he wasn't afraid of expressing it. So why should this scene be any different?

And why not? This was something that was directly linked to him – there was all sorts of ridiculous discrimination against gay people, even in the 21st century. This film was fighting to portray gay people as people who were just like everyone else; which they _were_. He should feel strongly about this, and he _did_, of course he did, but he was holding back.

Well he was about to let go.

* * *

'The defence would like to call Cameron Whitt to the stand.'

Kurt stood shakily and made his way over to the witness box, assisted by Blaine. He sat down gingerly and Blaine moved back to his seat after giving Kurt's hand a brief squeeze. But he wasn't Kurt anymore. No. He had immersed himself in Cameron.

It had taken a few more tries, but Kurt felt as though this would be his crowning moment, because he was thinking. He was thinking of his mother, of Karofsky and Azimio and the football team's constant threats and assaults and insults. He was thinking of his father, and his heart attack, and how almost losing him had affected him. He reminded himself of every failure; every botched glee club performance, every time he'd lost a solo to Rachel Berry, every _disappointment _he'd ever felt. He felt as though he would hardly get through his lines without bursting into – very convenient – tears.

'Now, Mr. Whitt, can you explain to the court what is wrong with you?' The defence lawyer requested. Kurt cleared his throat and, gripping the edge of the witness box, leaned forward slightly.

'I'm dying.'

His voice was emotionless, dead. He sounded tired. From offstage, he could vaguely see Simon looking hopeful. It was going good.

'If I don't get a transplant,' he continued in his dry, cracked voice, 'I'm going to die. I'm not even out of high school and I'm going to die.'

'But obviously you haven't tried to seek help in another hospital?'

'This is the only one we could afford.' Kurt replied, slightly testy. His character was tired, and frankly, so was he. Right now, he just wanted to cry.

'But evidently have enough for civil litigation.' the defence lawyer retorted quickly, and Kurt narrowed his eyes at him.

'I have received the same response from the other hospitals.' he informed the lawyer.

'The standard protocol for hospitals in the Ohio state is that they do not offer transplants to homosexuals and –'

'Why though –'

'_And challenging that_,' the lawyer continued loudly, 'is pointless. The Board of Health would never agree to such a change and by causing such a stir you are not only putting yourself at serious risk of a defamation case and –'

'Objection!' Kurt's lawyer interrupted, standing, 'they cannot threaten my client with litigation at this point. He is underage and there has been no counterclaim stated previously by the hospital.'

'Noted.' the judge murmured, and then gestured for the defence lawyer to continue.

'As I was saying,' he went on, 'the Board of Health has given us an extensive document, which I will now quote, as saying that,' here he ruffled through a stack of papers, 'that _'one reason of denying transplants to homosexual males is that there is a high risk of contamination, ergo, the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV_.' Now, evidently the risk of spreading such a horrible virus is –'

'That only makes sense if he was _giving _the transplant!' Blaine stood, shouting desperately over the lawyer, 'and it's not like Cameron has slept –'

'The plaintiff will control his party!' the judge interrupted, banging his gavel, 'proceed, defence.'

'Furthermore,' the defence lawyer continued, reading off his document, '_'transplants are offered first and foremost to those deemed valuable members of society; eg. Children, mothers, fertile men and women, and only then do the minorities follow. As homosexuals offer nothing substantial to the community –'_

'Objection!' Kurt's lawyer cried, standing.

'Overruled.' the judge sighed.

''_-they will not be offered any sort of transplant before the priorities, and as it stands, there are simply not enough organs to spare.' _So obviously, as the witness is not listed in the priority list which has been created by the _Board of Health, _which is in turn in charge of all the hospital protocols around the country, he –'

'I am a _human being_!'

And the emotions started pouring out.

'I am a _person_.' Kurt cried, and the tears started welling up in his eyes, because he was _sick _of the discrimination. He knew that it was all fictional, this whole movie, and thankfully, the whole transplant debacle, but he couldn't handle it on top of everything he had suffered through, 'I am a teenage boy who should be allowed the right to be healthy and happy and I should be able to _love _who I want. What does it m-matter? Just because I'm not attracted to women doesn't make me a detriment to society; it makes _me who I am_.'

He rose to his feet, shakily, as the sickness didn't allow him quick movement.

'I am wasting away.' he told the court, and his voice began to shake and his eyes scanned the room with an air of finality, 'I haven't had the chance to live my life and I never will because I'm not deemed worthy of living. I didn't choose to be gay, just as I didn't choose to be sick. Both these things are completely out of control. I'm sick of the stares and the whispers and the _prejudice_. _I am a human being._'

He choked back a sob, a genuine sob, and as he looked over the room and the cameramen and Simon, he noticed that they were looking at him in a stunned silence. Because he wasn't acting anymore – he hadn't been since the beginning of his outburst. He wasn't holding back anymore. This was Cameron Whitt – this was _Kurt Hummel _– making a stand.

'All I ask is the possibility of life. Of living. Of being able to get a job and a career and falling in love with a man who will love me the same.' at this, his eyes met Blaine, and Blaine stared back at him, his own eyes watery, 'but I'm never going to be able to be happy, am I? Because my sexuality will always hold me back. It doesn't matter if I have any other redeeming qualities. I'm never going to get the chance to be happy.'

And with that, the sobs started tearing through him, because on some sad, sick level, what he was saying was true. Kurt had so many demons that he had locked away, and they had hit him with a shocking realization. He breathed heavily, reaching the end of his speech, tears streaming down his face. From the side, he could hear Simon call 'cut' softly.

There was complete silence, broken only by Kurt's crying. He took one more look around the room before he broke completely, and he stepped quickly from the witness box and ran from the courtroom, needing to get out of there desperately.

The double doors swung shut behind him before the whole room was in an uproar.

'Oh, Kurt.' Blaine sighed after the closing doors, wiping a stray tear off his cheek before going to find his boyfriend.

* * *

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND I'm back! Well, more or less. Well… basically. I really, really felt like writing, and I needed to read my own story because I forgot where it was going! Ha!  
I'm sorry about the angst, but I felt like we've had all this internal conflict from Blaine, and not much from Kurt, whose own past is scarred and tattered, and I feel that because he's portrayed as such a strong character, he never gets the chance to break down and let go of all his baggage.**

**I missed you guys, and thank you all for messaging me and keeping track of me. I love you all so much, and I'm so happy to be writing for you guys again. **

**xxxxxxxx**


	25. Chapter 25

'Kurt and I are dating.'

Simon choked slightly over his coffee as Blaine slid into the seat opposite him.

'I'm sorry, what?' he asked weakly, setting his mug down. He looked up at Blaine and saw him staring back solemnly. It was evident that he wasn't joking, and Simon cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter, 'you two are dating now?'

'Yes.' Blaine replied firmly, 'I mean, we're keeping it quiet right now, but I thought that you should know.'

'God, Blaine… wow.' Simon leaned back, stunned, 'this is a huge development for you. When did this happen? After you two went out to dinner?'

'Yeah.' Blaine nodded, drumming his hands softly against the table, 'I mean, I don't know, Simon. I tried fighting it and it didn't… work. So I'm giving in. Kurt is… Kurt's fantastic. He's a lot more than fantastic.'

'He is.' Simon agreed.

'But, um, I needed to… clarify something with you.' Blaine told him slowly, as though he was choosing his words carefully, 'we're keeping it quiet, yes, but after seeing how he reacted in the court scene today… um, does it come across like I'm ashamed of him? I mean, I'm not, of course I'm not, but I'm worried about how he feels about it. Like, we don't get much out of him, do we? He's strong and I had _no _idea he'd been holding in so much. Do you think keeping it quiet makes it worse?'

'I don't think that at all, Blaine,' Simon replied after a few careful moments of consideration, 'I don't think it reflects on how you feel about _Kurt_, rather than how you feel about the situation. I mean, yeah, you've had a boyfriend before, but before that and after that ended you were exclusively with women. And you thought that you _liked_ women and now making that jump into barely charted waters would be scary for you and it's obviously understandable that you want to get yourself together before making it public. Am I making myself clear to you?'

Blaine nodded, looking thoughtful.

'I just felt… so bad.' he spoke up quietly after a while, 'I mean, that was… heart wrenching. Of course, that's probably exactly what _you_ wanted, that was like a director's dream –'

'It's not like I wanted Kurt to have a mental breakdown.' Simon cut in gently, and Blaine looked slightly uncomfortable. 'How is he, anyway? Have you spoken to him?'

Blaine shook his head.

'He didn't want to talk.' he replied, sounding a little put off, 'it's good that we got through the rest of my scenes, though. I suppose we can always film his tomorrow.'

'It'll put us a little behind schedule,' Simon replied, checking his notes quickly, 'well, only about half a day or so, depending on how long it'll take to film, but we couldn't exactly force him into finishing his scenes when he was feeling like that. Where is he now?'

'He's been in the costume department with Ryan, I think.' Blaine told him, a bitter edge to his tone, 'says that he _understands _better.'

'You'll see him tonight.' Simon assured him, feeling that Blaine was slightly jealous of the older costume designer, 'actually, you know what, why don't I send you back early and you can set something up for the two of you so that you can make him feel better about today?'

'Like what?' Blaine asked, momentarily distracted from the thought of Kurt and Ryan.

'Well… I don't know; put in his favourite film, order room service… do something nice.' Simon shrugged, 'I mean, it's the least you can do. Maybe the two of you can talk then.'

'I wish he could open up to me.' Blaine sighed, feeling slightly frustrated, 'I mean, I'm a bit of an idiot but that doesn't mean I don't want to help him.'

'But you have to look at it from his perspective,' Simon reminded him gently, 'you're the one denying your sexuality and he's been judged for it for god knows how long. It's not really something you can understand.'

Blaine looked crestfallen, and Simon sighed.

'Okay, dinner and a movie and just… hold him for a while, and he'll talk, alright?'

'Okay, I'll try.' Blaine agreed hesitantly.

* * *

Blaine was sent home before Kurt was, which gave him time to get something for dinner and pick a movie from his extensive collection. He hid the food and the film from Kurt, of course, wanting it to be a surprise. He decided he would set up while Kurt was changing or in the shower.

Kurt barely looked at him when he got home, but Blaine could tell it wasn't because he was mad at him. He thought that Kurt would perhaps be embarrassed because of the outburst, that Blaine would think him stupid or weak. Which was as far from the truth as possible; the outburst in the courtroom scene reaffirmed his belief that Kurt was a strong actor and an even stronger person.

He got to work while Kurt was in the bathroom; he popped in the DVD – Singing in the Rain – and set up dinner on plates on the coffee table and placed a candle in the centre of the table.

He'd opted for lasagne and salad, and there was a pint of double choc fudge ice cream in the freezer for after dinner, because if there was one thing Blaine knew what to do, was how to pity eat.

He changed into the most comfortable clothes he could find, and then waited for Kurt to get out of the shower. He didn't really know what to do with himself, so he just stood next to the couch, waiting awkwardly.

Kurt came into the living room dressed in comfy looking sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. His eyes were rimmed red and he looked exhausted, but his interest clearly perked when he saw the coffee table and Blaine standing next to the couch.

'What's this?' he asked softly. Blaine merely held his hand out to him, and Kurt hesitantly crossed the room to take his hand. Blaine squeezed his hand softly and then placed a gentle kiss against Kurt's forehead.

'This is me helping.' he replied, his voice just as soft, 'I got dinner and we're going to watch a movie and we're going to forget everything that's bothering us for tonight, okay?'

Kurt nodded slowly and Blaine led him around the couch so that they could sit down. He took a lighter to the wick of the candle so that it glowed nicely between their plates.

'I hope this is okay.' Blaine spoke up, gesturing to the meal and the movie, 'I mean, you like Singing in the Rain and lasagne, right?'

'It's perfect.' Kurt replied, smiling softly.

Blaine played the movie and they ate in relative silence, broken only by Kurt's occasional humming to the songs. When they were finished, Blaine cleared the plates and brought out the ice cream and two spoons.

'We're pity eating,' Blaine told him, plopping back down on the couch and holding out a spoon to him. Kurt giggled and nestled against Blaine as the movie resumed and they ate from the carton of ice cream, occasionally feeding each other. When they got sick of the ice cream, Kurt placed it and the spoons on the tables and Blaine used the lack of interfering objects to pull Kurt close against him, pressing the occasional kiss into his soft hair.

'I love this song,' Kurt sighed as Don began to sing to Kathy. Blaine tightened his arms around Kurt and began to sing along with Don.

'_You were meant for me, and I was meant for you_.' he sang softly, kissing Kurt's temple, '_nature patterned you and when she was done, you were all the sweet things, rolled up in one.'_

'You have such a beautiful voice, Blaine,' Kurt sighed, 'I don't understand why you don't showcase it more often.'

'Because I'm an actor,' Blaine replied, slightly bitter, 'and they don't want me branching out into music because that's like… usually a sign that your career is failing or something.'

'But you shouldn't have to hide your talent.'

'Well, that's what the soundtrack is for, I guess.' Blaine replied, and he smiled gently at Kurt when he turned to look at him, 'it's okay. I'm still young. Plenty of time to sing, I guess. Besides, you're much better than I am and I don't see you making an album.'

Kurt scoffed, 'please, Blaine. After today, I don't think Simon will ever want me back on set today.'

'You're joking?' Blaine sat up a little more, 'the room was in tears. I think that's going to be the strongest scene of the film. That wasn't even acting… that was so much more.'

'I feel so embarrassed.' Kurt admitted, 'letting my feelings get to me like that. '

'You know,' Blaine started, and he reached up to cup Kurt's cheek. He let his fingers dance lightly against Kurt's cheekbone as he spoke, 'since we met, it's always been about me, and my feelings, and me denying my feelings and being sook and god knows what else. You… you've been through so much more and you don't complain. Ever. You keep everything locked away, and baby, when you keep things so locked up, sometimes they're going to burst out when you least expect them to.'

Kurt's gaze dropped, and Blaine tilted Kurt's head back up so that he looked at him.

'And that's _okay_.' he assured him, 'it's _okay_ to let your feelings out. It's okay to come to me – or anyone – and cry or yell or _talk_. Don't feel embarrassed, because everyone really understands how you're feeling. We know how much stress filming has on a person; we've all been there, and when you're so stressed, it's easy to fall apart.'

'Thank you.'

Blaine hugged him tightly then, not wanting to come on too strongly after Kurt's emotionally charged day. But when he pulled away, Kurt was staring at him with an impish smile and a raised eyebrow.

'Just a hug?' he asked in a tone of mock-disappointment.

Blaine grinned and leaned forward, kissing Kurt softly on the lips. Kurt wound his hands into Blaine's hair and pulled him closer, leaning into the kiss. Blaine pulled Kurt back on top of him, leaning back against the arm of the couch, and ran his hands down Kurt's sides just as the door rang loudly.

'Ugh, why?' Blaine groaned, as Kurt laughed and climbed off of him. Blaine hauled himself off the couch and padded to the front door, peering through the peephole in order to see who it was.

He saw Simon standing awkwardly in front of the door, and his face fell flat. Trust Simon to treat Kurt to a romantic evening in and then crash the night halfway through.

'Blaine, dearest, hello!' Simon greeted him sheepishly after Blaine had pulled open the door and glared at Simon.

'Hello, Simon.' he replied, his tone flat. Simon stepped inside, looking bashful and uncomfortable. A moment later, Kurt joined them in the hall.

'Simon, hi,' he smiled at him warmly, 'what are you doing here?'

'I got kicked out.' he told them, scratching his head. Blaine raised an eyebrow at him.

'I'm sorry, but you got _kicked out_?' he repeated.

'You know how I'm on and off with Monika, yeah?' Simon reminded him, and Blaine nodded, 'yeah well, she came to stay and the night and then she kicked me out and now I'm not allowed back in so…'

'So you're wondering if you could stay.' Blaine finished for him, and Simon blushed.

'If I'm not interrupting, of course. I could rent out another room.'

'Well that would be a more conve-' Blaine started, but Kurt slapped his arm gently and shushed him.

'Of course you're not interrupting, Simon, we'd be glad to have you stay.' Kurt told him, and Blaine forced a smile onto his face and nodded.

Simon beamed at them and headed off into the living room. Blaine threw Kurt a pleading look, but Kurt shot him a pointed one, and then gestured that they should go and join Simon in the next room. Blaine, annoyed at not being able to spend the night with Kurt, pushed him against the wall and kissed him deeply, pressing his hips against Kurt's. He felt Kurt gasp beneath him, and he pulled away quickly. Kurt was breathing heavily, his eyes dark. He scowled, however, and flattened his hair.

'I hate you.' he muttered before going into the next room. Blaine chuckled and followed him.

Simon was sitting on the couch, the pint of ice cream in his arms, watching the ending of the film on the television. Kurt went and sat next to him, and Blaine sighed softly and ran his hands through his hair before joining the others on the couch.

'So, she just kicked me out.' Simon announced eventually, 'honestly, I give that woman my heart and she kicks me out.'

'She always kicks you out, Simon,' Blaine reminded him, and Simon frowned.

'Yeah, but that's usually at home. This is a hotel room! I'm not even sure if that's legal.'

'You can sort it out in the morning when you've had a good night's sleep.' Kurt consoled him. Blaine's eyes widened at the word 'sleep'.

'Right. Sleep.' he repeated, 'where is everyone sleeping then?'

'I'll sleep on the couch?' Simon replied slowly, 'that's where I thought I would end up. Don't you and Kurt share –?'

'No.' Blaine replied quickly, and Kurt rolled his eyes, 'no, we don't. I sleep on the couch, Kurt takes the bed.'

'Well, what about for tonight you two share the bed, and I'll sleep here?'

'I don't feel comfortable doing that.' Blaine told him, and Simon shot him a strange look. Blaine sighed, 'look, it's too early in our relationship to be sharing a bed and I don't think tonight should be an exception, okay?'

'Okay, Blaine, calm down,' Kurt told him softly, 'we'll figure it out. Let's watch a movie or something, it's still pretty early.'

* * *

So they ended up watching _The Notebook_, with Simon sandwiched between Kurt and Blaine. Blaine, never one for sappy romance movies, stared at the screen blankly for the whole time while Simon and Kurt clutched at each other and all but sobbed.

'I don't get it.' Blaine commented after what seemed like a lifetime, when the credits began to roll.

'What do you mean, you don't 'get it'?' Simon asked incredulously, turning to face him, 'it's about _true love_.'

'They died together – how is that _sad_?' Blaine asked, 'I mean, okay if he died or something like fifty years ago and she was left without him to die but they were _together_.'

'That's what makes it so beautiful, Blaine,' Kurt spoke up gently, 'the fact that even though she couldn't remember they were together until their dying day.'

Blaine, unable to offer much comfort from where he was sitting, reached around Simon and awkwardly patted Kurt's hair. Simon noticed this and made a sound of revelation.

'_Oh! _Am I interrupting or something?' he asked, 'I didn't realize.'

'No, of course not,' Kurt replied, obviously too uncomfortable to tell Simon that he was in the way. He really just wanted to cuddle up with Blaine, but Simon had sort of gotten in the way of those plans.

Blaine was evidently a lot more comfortable with telling Simon off, so he glared at him.

'Yeah, you are interrupting.' he told him, 'remember what we talked about earlier? What you _suggested_? That was going wonderfully until you decided to_ crash_.'

Instead of getting offended, however, Simon merely laughed.

'Right, sorry Casanova.' he scoffed, 'I'm going to the bathroom and then I'm going to get ready for bed, alright? You two can do whatever.'

He got up from the couch and walked out of the room, leaving Kurt and Blaine on their own.

'He won't be gone for that long.' Blaine pointed out.

'Hmm. Maybe we should make the most of our time alone together then.' Kurt suggested, already scooting over on the couch so the he was hovering over Blaine. Blaine grinned at him and cupped his cheeks with his hands before bringing their lips together. He could feel Kurt smiling into the kiss and he had just shifted so that Kurt was straddling him when Simon literally popped up from behind the couch.

Kurt and Blaine shot apart as if electrocuted, and Kurt uttered a shrill scream of surprise. Simon fell onto his back, laughing heartily, before picking himself off the floor and struggling into a standing position. He wiped his eyes, still laughing.

'Oh, man,' he gasped through his laughter, 'you should have seen you two. That was hilarious. Okay, okay, continue, I'll actually go get ready for bed now.'

Blaine growled and followed him to make sure he actually went into the bathroom, and when he did he collapsed forward over the back of the couch and groaned.

'He's a child.' he commented weakly, 'he's actually a child.'

He heard Kurt chuckle and a moment later felt a soft kiss pressed against his head. He looked at Kurt, who was smiling.

'He's adorable.' he remarked, 'but I'm definitely having a talk with this Monika girl tomorrow to see if she'll let him back in.'

'If she doesn't, he's sleeping in an alley or something.' Blaine grumbled, moving to sit on the couch properly. Kurt pulled his head onto his lap and stroked his hair, and they idly watched the commercials on television while waiting for Simon to get out of the bathroom.

When he did reappear, he was in boxers and an undershirt, and his hair was tousled. Blaine noticed that Kurt cast him an appreciative look, and tried to ignore it. But he found when he spoke to Simon next, he was a little sharp.

'Where are you sleeping?' he asked, though it came out in a slightly aggressive tone. Simon blinked.

'Um, wherever you want, man,' he shrugged, looking uncomfortable, 'look, I'm sorry about intruding and getting in the way and whatever… if it's that bad, I can always get another room.'

Blaine sighed, 'sorry. No, no, it's okay. It's been a long day. Um, why don't you and I, uh, share the double bed in the bedroom and Kurt can sleep on the couch? Because I've known you a lot longer than he has and I wouldn't want to make either of you uncomfortable…'

Kurt nodded in agreement and Simon shrugged again.

'That's cool, Blaine, whatever's fine with me. I mean, I'm already intruding on your hospitality so –'

Blaine rolled his eyes and stood, giving Simon a playful shove.

'Shut up, Simon. You've done so much for both of us, staying the night isn't a big deal.' he assured him, not seeing the point in feeling annoyed at the situation anymore.

'Okay well… I'll go to bed then. Night, Kurt. I'll see you when you come in, Blaine.'

Kurt echoed his goodnight and smiled at him, and Simon shot him a grin and left the room. Blaine heard the bedroom door shut and he sat back down on the couch.

'You find him attractive.' he remarked, and Kurt looked over at him.

'Huh?'

'Simon. You find him attractive.' he repeated. He didn't know why he was even bringing it up. He didn't want to go to bed angry.

'Well…' Kurt looked uncomfortable, 'yeah, he's good looking, I guess.'

'No but, you were checking him out.'

'I _looked_, Blaine. I didn't 'check him out'.' Kurt sighed, and shifted his body so that he was turned more towards Blaine, 'are we going to do this, Blaine? We've been dating for all of… a day. Fighting is stupid.'

'We're not fighting.' Blaine replied testily, 'I'm not fighting. Why are you fighting?'

Kurt sighed heavily and stood, moving to the linen closet to get blankets and pillows.

'I'm not fighting.' he told him softly, 'I'm sorry for looking at Simon. It was just unexpected, alright?'

Blaine realized then that he was being unreasonable and he bit his lip, feeling terrible. Why did he do these things? When would the insecurities stop? He moved slowly over to Kurt, who was still facing the linen closet, and he wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his chin on Kurt's shoulder.

'I'm sorry.' he apologized sincerely, 'I'm just… a bit insecure at this point.'

Kurt turned and he smiled weakly.

'It's okay, Blaine.' he assured him, 'I know what it's like. But just… please don't jump to ridiculous conclusions. I don't want to fight.'

'Neither.' Blaine murmured, kissing him softly.

Kurt seemed to forget his previous annoyance and he kissed Blaine back soundly. When he pulled away, he was grinning.

'You'd better get to bed,' he told him, and then winked, 'Simon is waiting for you.'

Blaine groaned loudly and kissed Kurt once more.

'Goodnight, Kurt.'

'Goodnight, Blaine.'

Blaine didn't move, however. He found that he didn't want to leave. He didn't want to go into the bedroom and spend the night with Simon, who would probably snore and be a blanket hog and would annoy him.

'I'm staying with you tonight.' he announced, and with an air of finality he pulled a blanket from the linen closet and went to the couch. Kurt stared after him for a moment before shrugging and getting a couple of pillows and joining Blaine.

They snuggled up together under the blanket, turning the lamp off so that the room was only illuminated by the moonlight. They lay in silence, Blaine playing with Kurt's hair, before he felt Kurt's breathing even out and he knew that he was asleep.

He couldn't seem to fall asleep himself, though, and he stared out of the window at the sky, the sound of cars and the wind playing as a backing track to his thoughts.

He was in New York, with his boyfriend, and he was incredibly happy. He was young and successful, and maybe a little broken and insecure, but he was making progress. And he was happy.

He heard a door open and the sound of someone padding across the room. A moment later, Simon flopping on top of the couch, effectively squashing both Kurt – who didn't rouse from his sleep – and Blaine.

'Never came to bed.' Simon mumbled, and a moment later he was asleep, too. Blaine, not willing to push Simon off him or wake Kurt, simply shut his eyes and willed sleep to come to him.

And even though he was crushed beneath Simon and squashed next to Kurt on the couch, it was the best sleep Blaine Anderson had ever had.

* * *

**Aw, Blaine, you precious little thing. **

**I thought I would write something night because Lord knows there's far too much angst in this story. It's nice to see how Kurt and Blaine's relationship progresses.**

**Now, I have a problem. Since I haven't written in so long, I've essentially lost the plot, so to speak, of this story. I know where it ends up and what will happen but the road to getting there is a bit hazy.**

**So I'm just going to do what I'm already doing and make it up.**

**Oh! Also, I got a Tumblr, so if any of you need to contact me at all, or want to talk or anything, my url is observationdeduction-truth :)**

**I love all of you so much! **


	26. Chapter 26

Blaine woke up on the floor groggy and sore, with vague recollections of Simon crashing his and Kurt's impromptu date night.

Simon was still sleeping on the couch, but Kurt was nowhere to be seen. Blaine hauled himself off the floor and went in search for his boyfriend, stretching his arms up over his head as he walked.

He found Kurt sitting on the bed, his hair slightly damp from showering. Blaine smiled at him.

'Hey, babe,' he greeted him, and Kurt gave him a fleeting smile, 'are you feeling better today?'

Kurt nodded, but it wasn't very convincing, so Blaine wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly for a few moments. Eventually, he felt Kurt's arms circle around his waist and his head lean against his chest. Blaine laced his fingers into the damp hair, twirling it around his fingers.

'I'm okay.' Kurt spoke up after a while, and smiled up at Blaine, who kissed his forehead.

'Good. I'm going to have a shower, and you should wake Simon up, because if we're late to shooting it'll be our heads, alright?'

After kissing him on the cheek lightly, Kurt wandered out of the room to wake Simon, and Blaine headed to the bathroom.

The scalding water did wonders for the knots in his back, but he still felt somewhat horrible. Kurt looked so _sad_, and he didn't know how to cheer him up. He wasn't sure whether talking would help him, or if Kurt even wanted to talk. He just wanted to see Kurt smile; a _genuine _smile. He was learning to tell the difference between Kurt's fake smiles and his real ones. He missed seeing his eyes light up.

_Ugh_, he thought, rinsing the shampoo from his hair, _I'm such a sentimental bastard lately. But I do need to cheer Kurt up. Pronto._

Honestly, he still had a lot to learn about Kurt. He knew the basics; his family, his favourite designer, his favourite flavour of ice cream. But not the important things. They were still developing that stage of their relationship.

He needed someone who would be able to cheer Kurt up in ways he couldn't.

And then it hit him.

He turned the tap off and rubbed at his hands and face with a towel quickly, before poking half his body out of the shower to reach for his phone. After a few taps, he raised the phone to his ear.

'Hello? Rachel? It's Blaine. I – no – I'm in the shower. Not like _that! _I need a favour.'

* * *

If anyone could cheer Kurt up, it was Rachel Berry, who apparently could clear her schedule in a heartbeat to be flown up to New York to surprise her best friend.

Of course, Blaine hadn't exactly cleared it with Simon first; he had sort of stolen his frequent flyer points to buy Rachel the first available flight to New York and ordered that she be driven to the set when she arrived. It would take around two and a half hours all up, and then Blaine would be able to see Kurt smile again.

He was jittery on set, more excited than anything else. Kurt was primarily shooting, and since his courtroom scene he seemed to act with a new vigor; with the talent both Blaine and Simon had sworn up and down that he had.

At around eleven o'clock, he received a text message from Rachel, who had apparently just pulled up on set. They were on coffee break, with Kurt trying to peek at Blaine's phone screen, when Blaine kissed him on the head and excused himself.

'This'll only take a minute,' he promised, 'apparently they accidentally tore some of my costume or something, I'll be right back.'

Kurt didn't question the excuse, though he didn't seem so convinced, and Blaine smiled at him quickly before heading to the entrance of the set where the car park was. He was excited to see Rachel himself – her personality and attitude was infectious.

She stood next to the car, waiting, her smile threatening to break her face in half. She looked more at home in New York than Blaine had ever seen her back in Lima, and he had only seen her for a few seconds. She spotted him and her smile grew wider, something Blaine didn't think possible, before she ran up to him and threw his arms around him tightly.

'Blaine, how are you?' she asked, squeezing Blaine briefly before drawing back to observe him, 'you look great!'

'You too, Rachel,' Blaine replied, his hands still holding her by the waist. He smiled brightly at her, 'I'm really glad you're here.'

'I've missed Kurt.' Rachel told him, and her eyes softened, 'I'm so sad to hear he's having trouble here. This was both of our dreams; it's hard to think that he isn't enjoying himself.'

'Maybe he just needs his best friend back.' Blaine remarked, and Rachel's smile returned, along with another tight hug. He held her tight, glad she was there now, before he spotted a flash in front of him, and his heart sunk.

Paparazzi.

He groaned internally, and drew away from Rachel.

'Let's go inside, yeah?' he suggested, letting go of her and taking her hand instead, 'I'm sure you're dying to see Kurt.'

'Of course!'

He led the way back inside, only half listening to Rachel prattling along. He hadn't even thought about paparazzi; of course there was going to be all sorts of rumors circulating about the two of them. He suppressed a sigh; what would that mean for him and Kurt, if everyone thought he was with his best friend?

He could only hope that nothing came of the pictures.

He reached the room where he and Kurt had been sitting, and he stopped Rachel.

'Wait a little bit, okay?'

Rachel nodded and bounced on the balls of her feet, obviously excited. Blaine slipped back into the room, where Kurt was still drinking his coffee.

'You took a while.' he remarked, and Blaine kissed him apologetically.

'I'm sorry, honey. I had to stop and get you something.'

'Get me something?' Kurt repeated, sounding interested and looking Blaine over to see if he was hiding something, 'get me what?'

'I left it in the hall,' Blaine replied, and Kurt frowned, confused, 'hang on, wait right here and close your eyes.'

Kurt reluctantly covered his eyes with his hands, his brow furrowed. Blaine grinned and slipped back into the hall, taking Rachel's hand again and motioning for her to be quiet. He popped his head back into the room to make sure Kurt still had his eyes covered.

'Hurry up, Blaine,' Kurt whined.

He led Rachel into the room, making sure that she was careful to tread quietly. She grinned at the sight of Kurt, even in his sickly makeup, looking as though she would explode at any given moment.

'Okay, open your eyes!' Blaine told Kurt cheerfully, and Kurt's hands fell away from his eyes. As soon as he spotted Rachel, the two shrieked in unison and Kurt was up in an instant, beaming and throwing his arms around Rachel.

'What are you doing here?' he cried, looking Rachel up and down, 'this is… amazing!'

'Blaine's idea.' Rachel replied, grinning, 'he thought you could use some cheering up!'

'Blaine, this was your idea?' Kurt asked, looking over Rachel's shoulder at Blaine, who was hanging back, watching the scene before him fondly. He nodded in answer to the question, and not even a moment later he felt Kurt's lips crash against his, the force of Kurt's body slamming into him almost knocking over.

'Um, Kurt?' Rachel squeaked, and Blaine remembered that Rachel didn't know about their relationship. Kurt turned to her sheepishly, his cheeks bright pink.

'Oh yeah, we're dating.' he told her, and Rachel's mouth dropped open.

'And you didn't tell me?' she shrieked. Kurt bit his lip.

'I'm sorry; we're keeping it a secret.' he replied, 'so you have to keep it quiet too, okay?'

Rachel opened her mouth to reply, but simply raised her eyebrow and closed her mouth, looking vaguely amused and very suspicious.

'Okay, I'll tell you everything!' Kurt relented, and he all but bounced back to her side so they could have an excited whispered discussion.

As this was happening, Blaine's phone vibrated in his pocket and he opened a text message from Simon, which contained a link to a popular gossip blog along with the message '?'.

He opened the link and after the page loaded, he squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to not throw his phone. There was a photo of him and Rachel, barely fifteen minutes old, embracing, grinning at each other. To those who didn't know what was going on, it almost looked as though they were in an intimate embrace. Accompanying the picture was a short article about new love interests and the identity of the 'small, pretty girl'.

'Honey, what's wrong?' Kurt asked suddenly. Blaine's annoyance must have shown on his face, but he forced a smile and shook his head.

'Nothing.' he assured him, tucking his phone back into his pocket, 'you two catch up. I'm going to go find Simon. Kurt, I'll come get you when you need to shoot again.'

He knew he wouldn't be missed, because Rachel and Kurt had a lot to talk about, which gave him plenty of time to talk to Simon.

'Cory, where's Simon?' he shouted at the nearest crew member who he actually knew. Cory pointed him in the direction of bathrooms.

Simon was washing his hands when Blaine entered, and he looked at him disdainfully through the mirror.

'What's with the photo, Blaine?' he asked, raising an eyebrow, 'is that Rachel? What's she doing in New York?'

'Ugh, I flew her in to surprise Kurt because he wasn't feeling well,' Blaine explained, 'and we hugged and I guess people are speculating.'

Simon sighed and rolled his eyes, drying his hands with a paper towel.

'At least this takes the heat off of me and Kurt?' Blaine remarked, determined to see the bright side of the situation. Simon turned to face him, surprised.

'And you really want that?' he asked, 'do you want to be Kurt's boyfriend, Blaine, or Rachel's?'

'Kurt's.' Blaine replied automatically, confused, 'I don't get it. I thought it would be bad publicity.'

'To hell with publicity.' Simon grumbled, 'it's about time we reached a point where we can be open about who we love.'

'Things not going well with Monika?' Blaine asked gently, remembering the couple's fight the previous night. Simon ran a hand through his shaggy hair and exhaled sharply.

'I just wish she'd… settle.' he admitted, shaking his head, 'but whatever. Get Kurt, we have to finish the scenes. You can all catch up with Rachel later.'

* * *

After shooting had wrapped up for the day, Blaine and Kurt decided to take Rachel out for the afternoon, showing her the best parts of the city. Her eyes were wide and childlike; she gazed around at the buildings and lights and people in absolute awe. Rachel Berry was in her element, Blaine realized, in this big city. She belonged here.

But Rachel couldn't stay for too long; it would interfere with her studies and her grades couldn't afford to suffer if she were to apply for college at the end of the year. Even so, Kurt was radiant with his best friend on his arm.

A few more articles had popped up about Blaine and Rachel, which he made sure to keep away from both of them, but after a few comments from readers and other reporters, who had seen the three of them around the city that afternoon, the buzz around 'Blaine's new love interest' seemed to die down after its very short span in the limelight. He was glad; he and Kurt didn't need the drama so early in their relationship.

He let Rachel and Kurt walk ahead of him a little. They were holding hands and talking animatedly about the film and the script and Broadway and their glee club and about whatever else came up in conversation. Blaine watched them fondly. He could see a little spring in Kurt's step as he walked, fingers laced with Rachel's. He knew that going to a big city and being forced to film under stress and not knowing many people and having to deal with the stress of seeing his face all over magazines and online blogs was harrowing, and despite it all, Kurt didn't even know _Blaine _properly yet. Blaine didn't know how to help Kurt out of his slump; but Rachel did, and he was glad to have the brunette around, even if she could cheer Kurt up in an instant and Blaine couldn't in days. He would have to ask her for help later.

After dinner, and Rachel pining over not having enough time to see something on Broadway, they headed back to the hotel, not having much to do other than rug up and watch some movies and eat leftovers from the restaurant they had eaten at. Kurt and Rachel cuddled up together on one side of the couch, and Blaine slumped on the other, only half paying attention to the movie on screen.

'Jeremy Renner is completely delicious.' Rachel commented, '_especially _dressed as Hawkeye.'

'He almost rivals Tom Hiddleston.' Kurt replied, and the two of them giggled amongst themselves. Blaine rolled his eyes at the two, only mildly annoyed that his boyfriend was perving on other men in front of him. He _was _right though. The cast of the Avengers were all _delicious_ as Rachel put it.

'What do you think, Blaine?' Rachel asked, peering over Kurt's shoulder at him, grinning, 'who do you think is the most attractive Avenger?'

'Scarlett Johansson in leather is always a plus in my books.' Blaine replied easily, glancing at the screen.

Rachel laughed, saying something about a 'girl crush', but Kurt just looked uncomfortable at Blaine's comment. He cleared his throat and got off the couch.

'I'm going to go to the bathroom.' He announced, but his voice was too quiet to be anything close to okay. Blaine and Rachel stared after him. They heard the bedroom door shut.

'You're gay, right Blaine?' Rachel asked after a moment, giving him a hard look. Blaine squirmed under her glare. Was he gay? Scarlett Johansson in leather still made his heart race a little too fast, shouldn't that give an indication? He still found women attractive. But then again, why did he need to stamp 'gay' across his forehead? He liked Kurt. He was attracted to Kurt. What more did they want. So he said just that.

'I like Kurt, Rachel. Whether I'm exclusively 'gay' or not is something I have neither figured out yet nor find particularly important anymore.' He informed her, a tone of finality, 'I can find women attractive and I can find Kurt attractive.'

'So is it just Kurt?' Rachel persisted, sounding awfully suspicious, 'is it because he can be considered more _feminine _than other guys, Blaine? Is that it? Kurt is not just some sort of… of _man-woman_, get it?'

'I am_perfectly _aware that Kurt is a man.' Blaine retorted, 'that's the reason I had so much trouble accepting my feelings in the first place. Look, this is between me and Kurt, alright? I really care about him, and no offence, but whether I'm gay or not is hardly your concern.'

'I swear, Blaine, he is my best friend and if you hurt him I –'

'– Wouldn't dream of it, Rachel, honestly.' Blaine assured her. 'I'm going to go talk to him, okay? Just… please sit here and don't intrude.'

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, but turned back to the screen regardless. Blaine hoisted himself off the couch and padded over to the bedroom, knocking lightly.

'Kurt?' he called, 'can I come in?'

He heard a murmur of affirmation from the other side of the door and opened it slowly. Kurt was sitting on the bed, his eyes, nose and cheeks slightly pink. Blaine felt his stomach churn guiltily – he didn't want Kurt to cry over something like this.

'Honey, do you wanna come and watch the rest of the movie?' he asked tentatively. Kurt shrugged one shoulder, and Blaine sighed, sitting down heavily next to him. 'What's the matter?'

'You're not actually gay, are you?' Kurt asked quietly, not looking at Blaine, 'because if you're not I –'

'Kurt, it doesn't matter if I'm _gay _or not. I might never be sure. I haven't found myself attracted to many boys outside you and –'

'_Exactly_, Blaine. What if this is just a phase for you? This –' he turned to look at Blaine, eyes wet and serious, 'this isn't a phase for me. You're not a phase.'

Blaine brought his hand up and stroked Kurt's cheek with his thumb. He was glad to see his boyfriend lean into the touch slightly. It encouraged him.

'I'd know if this was a phase, Kurt.' He assured him. 'I'm – I'm risking everything because I want to try this. If I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't. It's that simple.'

Kurt didn't look completely convinced, and Blaine felt slightly annoyed at the fact. He stood up and started pacing.

'I don't know what else you want me to do, Kurt.' He admitted, his tone a little abrasive, 'do you want me to write to the magazines and tell them? Do you want me to say it in every interview? Because if that's what you _really_ want me to do, I'll – I'll do it. Alright? I'll just throw everything out and I'll admit it all. Do you want _that _from me?'

'I – no.' Kurt replied guiltily, shaking his head. 'I wouldn't want you to throw your career away for me.'

Blaine fell to his knees in front of Kurt, and took Kurt's hands in his own.

'Then what more can I do for you, Kurt? I'm giving myself to you. What more can I do?' he asked, his voice breaking slightly. 'I am so – I am so in _like _with you, okay? I just – you mean so much.'

Kurt chuckled then, and Blaine felt as though a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Kurt couldn't be too mad at him if he was laughing, could he?

'In like.' Kurt mused, his eyes sparkling, 'I like that.'

'I like _you_.' Blaine told him, rising and pressing a kiss to his lips, 'please come and finish the movie? I promise you can drool all over the guys as much as you want and I won't say a word.'

Kurt giggled and pressed another kiss to Blaine's lips, lingering there for a moment, before taking his hand and leading him wordlessly to the living room. Rachel spotted Kurt's smile, and a smile graced her own lips. Perhaps Blaine wasn't as clueless as she'd thought.

They resumed watching the film, but this time instead of cuddling up to Rachel, Kurt didn't budge from Blaine's arms for the rest of the film.

* * *

Saying goodbye to Rachel the next day was an obvious bummer for Kurt, but her brief visit had put him in such a good mood that their filming had gone almost without a hitch. It was coming along quite nicely. Blaine and Kurt loved feeding each other lines and rehearsing and being behind the camera. Kurt was really starting to enjoy the whole process. Perhaps talking with Rachel had helped him focus on what an amazing opportunity he had.

His focus helped Simon's mood, at least, which was still foul because of his failing relationship. He was ruthless with his takes; now if there was one thing even slightly off, he made them redo the entire scene. So even though Kurt and Blaine were completely in the zone, there were far too many reshoots of perfectly normal scenes. Blaine's little paparazzi scandal didn't help Simon's mood, either. Overnight bigger, more interesting things had cropped up for the press to eat up, so Blaine was in the clear for now. But that didn't stop Simon from lecturing him on being more careful about 'who he made love to on the pavement' in future.

And of course, there was the odd whisper that he and Kurt were secretly seeing each other, but they both blew that off as best they could. They made sure to act strictly platonic when they were around the set or generally in public. It was exposure Blaine was definitely not ready for. Kurt, already openly gay, wasn't fussed by the rumors, but for Blaine, they were only causing trouble.

After they'd wrapped up shooting for the day, and Blaine was scrubbing the makeup from his face, he saw Simon approaching in the mirror, holding his phone and biting his lip. He looked concerned, and it unnerved Blaine.

'What's wrong, Simon?' he asked, practically scouring his cheeks with a makeup wipe. He frowned at the tan smear left on it. He hated wearing makeup.

'Um… I just got off the phone.' Simon started, still staring at Blaine from the mirror. 'To your parents.'

Blaine dropped the makeup wipe and turned to Simon, frowning. His stomach churned uncomfortably at the mention of his parents. They were something he definitely didn't want to be dealing with.

'They want to see you.' Simon told him flatly, and Blaine shook his head.

'Well, good luck to them.' He said scathingly, turning back to the mirror and picking up the makeup wipe, scrubbing at his face with a new vigor. Simon sighed.

'They've been reading things about you and… and Kurt. They want to talk to you about it.'

'Damn it, Simon, you know it's never _talking _with my parents.' Blaine snapped, throwing the makeup wipe down again, half his face clean and half still stained with makeup, 'I don't want a thing to do with either of them, so you can call them back and tell them that Blaine said to kindly _fuck off_.'

'Blaine…' Simon sighed again and sat down in a chair at the end of a table. He dropped his phone onto the table and ran his hands through his hair. 'When did this all get so complicated?'

'When Kurt waltzed into my life.' Blaine muttered bitterly, surprising even himself. Simon lifted his head to stare at Blaine.

'Do you resent dating him, Blaine?' he asked.

Blaine… didn't. He cared for Kurt very much, but he couldn't deny that he was sick of the onslaught of problems his new relationship was bringing.

'No. But it's just trouble with him.' He admitted, bracing himself against the makeup counter and exhaling slowly, 'as if I didn't have enough problems with my parents before now.'

'You can always just deny it, you know.' Simon told him, 'I mean, why should your parents even have to know?'

'Why can't they just be proud of me?' Blaine sighed, his voice small. 'Nothing I do is good. Nothing.'

Simon heaved himself out of his chair and crossed the room, placing his hand on Blaine's shoulder.

'Look, talk to your parents. Tell them… tell them what you want to tell them, okay?' Simon advised. 'But Blaine; family isn't limited to blood, okay? Remember that.'

'Of course.' Blaine replied, grinning despite himself, 'that's your excuse for bothering me for all this time, isn't it? We're family, right?'

'Definitely my favourite, kiddo.' Simon replied, pulling Blaine in for a hug and ruffling his hair. 'You'll be okay. You'll see. Things have a funny way of working out. And if you want, I'll come and see your parents with you. I'll throw your dad into the ocean if he so much as raises a hand against you.'

Blaine thanked him, grateful for the support, and Simon left the room. He finished scrubbing his face, a dread mixing in his stomach. He didn't want to see his parents. Nothing ever good came from seeing them.

But he supposed he would just have to see what happened. If he could get them off his back, it would give him one less thing to worry about, at least.

* * *

**AN: I'm not even going to make excuses for why I haven't updated in so long. I went to write this chapter, but found it already half finished amongst my files so at least I had a head start, but guys, I am **_**so sorry**_**! These last few months have been hectic. There's been so much drama and problems and exams and graduation and all these things have happened but I'm here now and I feel like I've updated a new chapter in my own life. And I got into university! Despite everything, I've gotten into university and I am heading down a good path and I am so excited.**

**So I love you guys so much, and I hope you still love me too and haven't given up too much on this story! **

**Also, I changed my Tumblr url to barrels-out-of-bond so if you guys want to follow me or talk to me or just anything at all, please feel free; I love meeting readers. As always thank you so much for your support and I have not forgotten any of you, and I love you all so very much. **


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